Dane County Week Ahead 12/16/24
County board meets this week and a mammoth sized Personnel and Finance Committee agenda.
Madison City Week Ahead 12/16/24
78% of the week ahead. 22 meetings in clerks agenda and legistar, but 5 (22%) are missing as we wrap up before the holidays.
Forward lookout on WORT 12/9/24. (Mystery Week!)
This week on “Forward Lookout,” Brenda Konkel and guest co-host Christina Lieffring dive into a week of mystery meetings in Dane County and the City of Madison.
Dane County Week Ahead 12/9/24
7 meetings this week, lots of alphabet soup to decipher and not many easy clues!
Madison City Week Ahead 12/9/24
Council meets this week, for other meetings - 3 cancelled, 3 no agenda, 2 showing up in legistar but not the clerks calendar.
Forward Lookout on WORT 12/2/24
Hear it here first, in the extended version! Or listen tonight at 6pm on WORT 89.9 FM.
Dane County Week Ahead 12/2/24
Dane County has 10 meetings this week, one that I've never heard of!
Madison City Week Ahead 12/2/24
Yup, December. A few weeks before everyone takes off for the winter holidays. Plenty of local government still happening.
Deeper Dive into Body Camera Report
The report is 47 pages long, I skimmed it, but it was enough for me to go back and take another look. Here's my take-aways.
Forward Lookout on WORT 11/25/24
It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for the most comprehensive roundup of local government meetings in the area.
Dane County Week Ahead 11/25/24
Audit of the elections process and several other meetings this week.
City of Madison Week Ahead 11/25/24
Council meets this week. Censure of Ald. Charles Myadze process and Ethics decisions and hearings also this week.
Forward Lookout on WORT 11/18/24
This week on Forward Lookout, Brenda Konkel and Rebecca Kemble preview a meeting-packed week ahead with 17 county meetings and 32 city meetings. Plus, affordable housing projects and an alder investigation.
Dane County Board Dist. 10 Vacancy
So tired of people who resign and people being appointed instead of elected into these positions.
Dane County Week Ahead 11/18/24
17 meetings this week, many agenda items on the county board agenda. No missing agendas that I know of!
Madison City Week Ahead 11/18/24
32 meetings, 4 cancelled, 5 missing agendas, but many committees meeting after budget is completed.
Alder Budget Amendments 2024
They are a bit tricky to find, but they are there. Not many of them. 1 capital budget and 5 operating budget amendments.
Forward Lookout on WORT 11/11/24
This week on Forward Lookout: Rebecca Kemble returns, just in time to look at the week ahead and review budget
Dane County Week Ahead 11/11/24
With the budget over, the county resumes normal functions, lots of actions on jail project, airport and Alliant Energy Center
Madison City Week Ahead 11/11/24
Last time to say this in 2024, budget, budget, budget. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, not much else this week.
Forward Lookout on WORT 11/4/24
Each Monday, we take a look at the week in local government that lies ahead.
Dane County Week Ahead 11/4/24
Only 7 meetings (2 with missing agendas) at the County Board this week now that their budget is all wrapped up!
Madison City Week Ahead 11/4/24
18 meetings, 5 missing agendas, no meetings on Tuesday cuz its election day! Vote Tuesday if you didn't vote early!
Tiny House Curious? Join Occupy Madison Sunday!
Occupy Madison Celebrates the 10-Year Anniversary of the opening of the first village!
Alders make essentially no amendments to Mayor’s Budget?
I was stunned when I opened the budget amendments for the finance committee and only found 1 amendment from alders.
Forward Lookout on WORT 10/28/24 (Extended version)
This week on Forward Lookout, Brenda Konkel sits down with News Director Chali Pittman as Rebecca Kemble is on assignment.
Dane County Week Ahead 10/28/24
County board has two meetings this week, one for public input and the second to finish up the 2025 budget!
Madison City Week Ahead 10/28/24
Spectacularly unimpressive council efforts on budgets, council meeting and a few more meetings this week.
Forward Lookout on WORT 10/21/24
Dane County prepares to finalize the budget, Madison youth get involved in advocacy, and housing funding gets a look.
Dane County Week Ahead 10/21/24
Meetings only on Monday and Tuesday, the budget will essentially be finalized by Wednesday with only the rubber stamp from County Board yet to come.
Madison City Week Ahead 10/21/24
2 cancelled meetings (MPO and Community Services), 5 missing agendas and 10 meetings with agendas.
City Budget Process Clear As Mud
As a member of the public, who knows what its like to be an insider, I have to give this year's budget process an F. Irony.
Forward Lookout on WORT 10/14/24
Rebecca Kemble and Brenda Konkel preview the week of local government meetings ahead for October 14, 2024.
Dane County Week Ahead 10/14/24
Only 4 meetings, but tons of information on the Personnel and Finance Committee committee budget amendment presentations from committees
City of Madison Week Ahead 10/14/24
Budget hearings Monday and Tuesday on the Mayor's 2 budgets and lots of possible quorums at community events.
Forward Lookout on WORT 10/7/24
Rebecca Kemble joins Brenda Konkel for another preview of city and county meetings for the week of October 7, 2024.
Dane County Week Ahead 10/7/24
County Board meets Wednesday for budget and a regular meeting on Thursday, lots of budget meetings and 2 missing agendas.
Madison City Week Ahead 10/7/24
Council meets this week, 3 cancelled meetings, 2 missing agendas.
Forward Lookout on WORT 9/30/24
We recorded on Sunday for today's show, and we have an extended version that goes beyond what you will here on WORT 89.9 FM.
Madison Finance Committee Capital Budget Amendments
There are only 8, and only 3 actually change the bottom line of the capital budget, the rest are language changes.
Dane County Week Ahead 9/29/24
6 of the 7 meetings are on Tuesday, last week there were a lot of budget meetings, this week there is just two.
Madison City Week Ahead 9/28/24
October! 2 missing agendas, finance committee starts digging into the capital budget, and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 9/23/24
4 missing agendas, Council meets this week and much more!
Dane County Week Ahead 9/9/24
Public hearings on the Dane County Department budgets and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 9/9/24
3 cancelled meetings, 4 missing agendas, Council meets this week, capital budget introduced and more . . .
Forward Lookout Returns to WORT 89.9 FM
Forward Lookout on WORT took a hiatus while we regrouped after Dylan Brogan got a job in the Mayor's Office, but it's back with a special Labor Day Edition!
Dane County Week Ahead 9/3/24
Three county board meetings on Thursday? Well, kinda . . . 5:30, 6 and 7 . . .
Madison City Week Ahead 9/3/24
September is here . . . that means budget season will be in full swing and it's time to get serious!
Dane County Week Ahead 8/26/24
7 meetings this week as the summer winds to an end.
Madison City Week Ahead 8/26/24
Finance, UDC, Plan Commission, tour of East-West Bus Rapid Transit and more
Madison City Council Meeting on Referendum 8/20/24
Apparently if equity is too hard to explain to us stupid taxpayers, they abandon their values.
Dane County Week Ahead 8/19/24
Dane County has plenty of meetings for the mid-August get your vacations in before end of summer typical government committee slump.
Madison City Week Ahead 8/19/24
Lots of meetings this week, mostly around Housing Week, but also council votes on referendum this week.
In other news . . . 8/11-8/17/24
Other news and events that didn't quite count as local news in the Konkel Round up!
It’s Madison Housing Week?!
Ever heard of the Madison Housing Coalition? They're apparently hosting Madison Housing Week
Dane County Week Ahead 8/12/24
County Board is taking it on the road this week from downtown Madison to Schumacher Farm Park in Waunakee
Madison City Week Ahead 8/12/24
Summer slump when many committees don't meet . . . but still plenty to look into if you're interested.
In other news . . . 8/6/24 – 8/10/24
This segment used to be called the round up, but that's also the name of the local news summary on the front page, so I gave it a fresh look!
Summary of the Council Meeting 8/6/24
Only 3 hours . . .1.5 hours of testimony on the referendum and an hour of questions that are 40 minutes by one alder.
Alders Voting Blindly – On What?
There's a lot going on in city hall right now, and I'm still catching up, but I did happen to catch this.
Konkel Round Up is Back on Forward Lookout
2 or so years ago I stopped doing the daily round up of local news, but that feature is back!
Dane County Week Ahead 8/5/25
Joint Presentation to about the Huber Program to Health and Human Needs and Public Protection and Judiciary and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 8/5/24
Council meets this week, it'll be your only time for input on the referendum with the council.
7/29/24 Dane County Week Ahead
The county only has one meeting this week?
7/29/24 Madison City Week Ahead
So it's been a while . . . but I'm back! Short blog, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday's are a 5th day of the week so less meetings than usual. 25% of agendas missing (4 of 12)
Dane County Week Ahead 4/1/24
Some long agendas with lots of funding for various groups along with affordable housing projects.
Madison City Week Ahead 4/1/24
Don't forget to vote on Tuesday and here's the city's upcoming meeting that have agendas (4 don't)
Dane County Week Ahead 4/25/24
Also less meetings this week at the county, but enough to be interested in!
Madison City Week Ahead 3/25/24
Last week of the month has a lighter schedule but still plenty of interesting things going on!
Dane County Week Ahead 3/4/24
County Board meets this week and a handful of other committee meetings this week.
City of Madison Week Ahead 3/4/23
Council meets this week, plus a full week of committee meetings.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/26/24
No meetings on leap day! That's what I expected to see. 7 meetings the rest of the week.
Madison City Week Ahead
Even with leap day there are plenty of meetings this week - finance, plan commission, udc, transportation and several committees that meet occasionally.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/19/24
Joint meeting of Public Protection and Judiciary and Health and Human Needs to look at Youth in the criminal justice system and other meetings this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 2/19/24
Only one meeting on Monday and one meeting on Tuesday (election day), the rest of the week looks more normal.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/12/24
County Board (and City Council meet this week), very few other county meetings!
Madison City Week Ahead 2/12/24
Not many items for discussion on the council agenda, but lots of new introductions! The next meetings are going to have packed agendas.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/5/24
I didn't spot any really big topics, but plenty of stuff going on this week with some full agendas.
Madison City Week Ahead 2/5/24
15 meetings this week but no meetings on Tuesday.
Dane County Week Ahead 1/29/24
Same apologies for going dark over January, lots of life got in the way.
1/29/24 Madison City Week Ahead
So sorry, its been a while. Life kinda got in the way this month, but I"m back now.
Dane County Week Ahead 12/18/23
County board back in full swing after only one meeting last week, includes a county board meeting
Madison City Week Ahead 12/18/23
5 cancelled meetings, 4 missing agendas, 9 meetings with agendas but not much going on this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 12/11/23
Only one meeting this week! Only two agenda items.
Madison City Week Ahead 12/11/23
Lots of missing agendas and broken links to agendas, but development marches on!
Dane County Week Ahead 12/4/23
Lake levels, funding decisions, more talking about the jail and more this week at the county!
Madison City Week Ahead 12/4/23
Last council meeting of the year, special plan commission meeting and more this week, plus a few missing agendas.
Dane County Week Ahead 11/27/23
Another meeting to decide what to do about cost overruns with the jail . . .
Madison City Week Ahead 11/26/23
A very long finance committee agenda as well as at plan commission.
Dane County Week Ahead 11/6/23
Final budget meeting! County board has one night scheduled.
Madison City Week Ahead 11/6/23
Public hearing on the operating budget, several meetings with no agendas.
Dane County Week Ahead 10/23/23
Only 9 meetings this week, 4 meetings cancelled (no meetings on Thursday), Personnel and Finance Committee (last stop before the board votes) takes up the budget!
Madison City Week Ahead 10/23/23
Alder amendments at Finance, 3 canceled meetings (MPO Technical, Housing Strategy, Jt. Campus), at least 3 missing agendas and more.
Dane County Week Ahead 10/16/23
Budget!!! Parisi's budget came out about 2 weeks ago, they've heard from departments and are making amendments and having the public hearing this week!
Madison City Week Ahead 10/16/23
Council meets this week, 5 cancelled meetings, 5 missing agendas (or more)
Dane County Week Ahead 10/2/23
Budget season is upon us, county board meets this week and more!
Madison City Week Ahead 10/2/23
7 missing agendas, council meets this week, mayors operating budget coming out this week as well.
Dane County Week Ahead 9/25/23
13 meetings, all with agendas, but there are more agendas hanging in the city county building . . .
Madison City Week Ahead 9/25/23
22 meetings, but 8 missing agendas. Finance Committee working on capital budget and much more!
Dane County Week Ahead 9/18/23
County board and a whole lot of other meetings this week. Summer break is over!
Madison City Week Ahead 9/18/23
Whoa! There's a lot of meetings this week! Council meets along with Plan Commission, ALRC and much more!
Dane County Week Ahead 8/28/23
4 meetings at the county this week, all today or tomorrow
Madison City Week Ahead 8/28/23
Last week of the summer, a handful of meetings today, Wednesday and Thursday, but several agendas missing.
Dane County Week Ahead 8/21/23
County Board also has a very active week as the summer comes to a close. And doh! forgot to post this morning!
Madison City Week Ahead 8/21/23
Lots of meetings for late August when many committees take a break and most of them have agendas!
Dane County Week Ahead 8/7/23
Plenty of county meetings this week, 1 oddly blank agenda.
Madison City Week Ahead 8/7/23
Not everyone takes a break in August, some committees are still meeting, but there are 6 missing agendas
Dane County Week Ahead 7/31/23
August mode - only 6 meetings, 1 missing agenda.
Madison City Week Ahead 7/31/23
Oh my goodness, its August! Council meets this week and several other committees humming along, 5 missing agendas.
Dane County Week Ahead 7/24
Opioid settlement funds, how should they be spent? And more . . .
Madison City Week Ahead 7/24/23
Plan commission and city council meets this week, at least 5 missing agendas and other things going on this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 7/3/23
Only three meetings this week - 2 on Wednesday, 1 Thursday.
Madison City Week Ahead 7/3/23
Just a few meeting this week, sadly, many do not yet have agendas!
Dane County Week Ahead 6/19/23
A full set of meetings crammed into 4 days this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 6/19/23
Short week, but lots going on, council meets, may be a long meeting with the resolution for sanctuary for trans andnon-binary persons on the agenda.
Dane County Week Ahead 6/5/23
Late, but here's the updates for the county this week!
Madison City Week Ahead 6/5/23
Cancelled meetings, missing agendas, council meeting this week (alcohol licensing, billboards and more)
Dane County Week Ahead 5/15/23
County Board meets this week along with several other committees.
Madison City Week Ahead 3/15/23
Another short council meeting! Annual liquor licenses approvals, lots of demolitions, farmland preservation plan and more this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 5/8/23
Lots of meetings this week to pick from! I didn't quite finish this morning, will try to add the rest this evening.
Madison City Week Ahead 5/8/23
No council meeting this week after 3 in a row! Here's the committees meeting this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 4/24/223
County legislative agenda making its way through the process and several other meetings this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 4/24/23
Council meeting again this week, and next week (3 in a row!). 4 cancelled meetings, 4 cancelled agenda. First look at the committees with new alders.
Dane County Week Ahead 4/10/23
10 meetings, 3 Board of Canvassers, Joint meeting on jail funding and 2 missing agendas.
Madison City Week Ahead 4/10/23
9 lame-duck meetings this week, including a practice meeting for the new alders. 4 meetings with missing agendas.
Dane County Week Ahead 4/3/23
6 meetings this week - 2 are repeats from the City Week Ahead and only one committee with links to agenda items.
Madison City Week Ahead 4/3/23
If you haven't already, don't forget to vote on Tuesday! 10 -11 ?? meetings this week!
Dane County Week Ahead 3/27/23
Only 4 meetings scheduled this week - no meetings Wednesday or Thursday
Madison City Week Ahead 3/27/23
Slow end to the month, but Plan Commission and Finance meet this week heading up to election day on the 4th.
AHAA Endorsements: Vote for Affordable Housing!
The Affordable Housing Action Alliance makes endorsements in the City of Madison Mayoral race and 11 alder races.
Dane County Week Ahead 3/20/23
County jail to stop housing federal prisoners? And other interesting things on agendas this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 3/20/22
4 cancelled meetings, 4 missing agendas, last council meeting with this round of city council members. And . . . tax evasion time for businesses!
Even Chief Koval wasn’t brazen enough to endorse candidates for City Council
Silly season (election season) is sillier than usual this year!
$169,889.20 in bad news for affordable housing and democracy
Why are the realtors spending 10.5 times more money in City of Madison Common Council races than the potential alders are?
Dane County Week Ahead 3/13/23
Shipping jail inmates to other counties and such fun stuff this week!
Madison City Week Ahead 3/13/23
Plenty going on this week, Finance Committee, Plan Commmission, ALRC and more.
Dane County Week Ahead 3/6/23
PFAS and the jail, so, you know, nothing controversial this week! ha.
Madison City Week Ahead 3/6/23
Council just met last week, but this is the second to last meeting of this council this week. Lots of clean ups and rushed items this time of year.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/27/23
Not quite finished, not sure if I'll get there today!
Madison City Week Ahead 2/27/23
Council meets this week, several missing agendas but a full week of meetings.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/20/23
Here's all the county meetings for this week, usual stuff!
Madison City Week Ahead 2/20/23
Election Day Tuesday, primaries for Mayor and in districts 2, 3, 4, 89, 10, 12, 14 ad 20! Here's the meetings this week.
Madison District 4 & 20 Candidates on Affordable Housing
While all the candidates say that affordable housing is a priority, read here to find out what they say (or don't say) they will do about it!
Madison District 14 Candidates on Affordable Housing
While all the candidates say that affordable housing is a priority, read here to find out what they say they will do about it!
District 12 Candidates on Affordable Housing
While all the candidates say that affordable housing is a priority, read here to find out what they say they will do about it!
Madison District 10 Candidates on Affordable Housing
While all the candidates say that affordable housing is a priority, read here to find out what they say they will do about it!
Madison District 9 Candidates on Affordable Housing
While all the candidates say that affordable housing is a priority, read here to find out what they say they will do about it!
Madison District 3 Candidates on Affordable Housing
While all the candidates say that affordable housing is a priority, read here to find out what they say they will do about it!
Madison District 2 Candidates on Affordable Housing
While all the candidates say that affordable housing is a priority, read here to find out what they say they will do about it!
Dane County Week Ahead 1/30/23
County Board gets high speed rail presentation and a few other meetings this week, also kinda sleepy with the fifth Monday and Tuesday.
Madison City Week Ahead 1/30/23
No meetings on Tuesday (5th Tuesday of the month) and some pretty short agendas for most committees.
Dane County Week Ahead 1/23/23
Full agenda of county meetings this week, mostly routine business but a few interesting items
Madison City Week Ahead 1/23/23
Special UDC meeting, full plan commission agenda and several other meetings this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 1/16/23
Couple cancelled meetings (Tree Board, Land Information Council), committee of the whole for County board on jail population, a declaration of emergency for Dec storm and one missing agenda!
Madison City Week Ahead 1/16/23
Hope everyone have a great MLK Day and was able to do something in service to the community or rest up to be back at it today!
Madison City Week Ahead 1/9/23
First full week of the year but most meetings are packed into three days with cancelled meetings and missing agendas.
Dane County Week Ahead 1/2/23
7 meetings at the county this week as the new year gets started . . . slowly. Except for the jail - that is full steam ahead.
Madison City Week Ahead 1/2/23
Hmm . . . this seems suspiciously light on meetings this week - even the Council agenda seems light.
Dane County Week Ahead 12/19/22
Only one meeting this week . . . happy holidays!
Madison City Week Ahead 12/19/22
Only 9 meetings and none on Thursday or Friday, holiday break!
Dane County Week Ahead 12/12/22
County board active shooter training, lots of committee meetings.
Madison City Week Ahead 12/12/22
Full week of agendas on many topics, Complete Green Streets on several agendas and the Transportation Overlay District at Landmarks.
Dane County Week Ahead 12/5/22
Looks like a typical week of committee meetings for the county board this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 12/5/22
Last council meeting of the year, which includes metro redesign and lots of missing agendas (including the council meeting).
Dane County Week Ahead 11/28/22
Only 5 meetings this week and two of them are the same committee!
City of Madison Week Ahead 11/28/22
Lots of missing agendas starting on Thursday, December 1st. Yup. December folks!
Dane County Week Ahead 11/21/22
5 meetings this week, a couple each day.
Madison City Week Ahead 11/20/22
A lot is packed into a short week, council meeting, plan commission meeting and ALRC meeting and more . . .
Dane County Week Ahead 11/7/22
Budget could be done as early as tonight, however they have 2 additional nights planned if needed.
Madison City Week Ahead 11/7/22
At least 7 missing agendas, likely more. Public hearing on bus system design this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 10/24/22
Operating Budget on Council Agenda for comment, lots of meetings this week!
Dane County Week Ahead 10/24/22
Budget season in full swing, and lots of other meetings this week!
Dane County Week Ahead 10/10/22
A few committees doing budget this week and other things
Madison City Week Ahead 10/10/22
Dane County Jail at Urban Design Commission this week, council meets and more . . .
Dane County Week Ahead 10/3/22
It's budget time! No meetings Tuesday or Wednesday due to Yom Kippur.
Madison City Week Ahead 10/3/22
Um, its been a while. Didn't realize I skipped an entire month! Sorry. Life. Work. Sad, sorry excuses.
Madison City Week Ahead 8/22/22
Lots of missing agendas this week and very little on the docket which is typical of late August.
Dane County Week Ahead 8/15/22
Just a few county meetings this week, including the board of canvassers finalizing election results.
Madison City Week Ahead 8/15/22
Mid August and not everyone is on vacation! Here's the meetings that have not been cancelled.
Dane County Week Ahead 8/8/22
Dane County meeting on the jail this week . . . and more!
Madison City Week Ahead 8/8/22
It's August, so its a little sleepy, but still 3 police committees, plan commission, transportation commission and more going on this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 7/25/22
County also has a a lot going on this last week of July!
Madison City Week Ahead 7/25/22
Busy last week of July with some really packed agendas!
Dane County Week Ahead 7/18/22
County board meeting this week and many more!
Madison City Week Ahead 7/18/22
Council meeting and many more this week!
Dane County Week Ahead 7/11/22
This weeks county meetings, several are going to hybrid format.
Madison City Week Ahead 7/11/22
Back to the grind. Full week of meetings ahead including the Council meeting.
Dane County Week Ahead 7/5/22
Only 3 meetings - unless they just haven't gotten the agendas done yet?
Madison City Week Ahead 7/5/22
Not many meetings this week, none on Tuesday, and missing agendas, so keep your eyes open for last minute additions.
County Week Ahead 6/27/22
A couple meetings tomorrow and Wednesday, but only 5 meetings.
Madison City Week Ahead 6/27/22
More developments, Common Council Executive Committee meets on Thursday this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 6/20/23
Hybrid meetings starting at the county. PFAS sampling results and more this week.
City Week Ahead 6/20/22
Development and permanent streeetery approvals at the council meeting, special plan commission meeting and more . . .
County Week Ahead 6/6/22
County board meetings this week . . .
City Week Ahead 6/6/22
First week in June! Council meeting and perhaps approving the Metro Network Redesign Plan.
County Week Ahead 5/23/22
Also forgot to post! Interesting times at the county, joint meeting on the jail, gender nuetral bathrooms, investigation at the zoo . . .
City Week Ahead 5/23/22
Oops, forgot to post! Sorry if you missed some Monday meetings! Plenty left, including Council meeting this week.
DENIED! In favor of being more thoughtful.
Instead of authorizing $1,000 per county employee, new county board Personnel and Finance Committee votes against proposal in favor of more thoughtful exploration of county employee wages.
Dane County Week Ahead 5/9/22
County committee leadership votes and much more this week!
Madison City Week Ahead 5/9/22
Lots of meetings on so many topics, including a Council meeting, but no CCEC meeting yet.
Dane County Week Ahead 5/2/22
9 meetings, 8 agendas. First meeting of new County Board, Personnel and Finance and Executive committees.
Madison City Week Ahead 5/2/22
Only 10 meetings this week and 7 of them have agendas! Council meeting re-scheduled due to Eid al-Fitr.
County Board Committee Appointments are out!
Perhaps the standing committees will start meeting next week? See who will be on which committees!
Dane County Week Ahead
Lots and lots of cancelled meetings this week as the county board adjusts to its new members. Bored by the post, read Konkel Round Up!
Madison City Week Ahead
Busy last week of the month. And . . . I updated the Konkel Round Up and intend to keep it updated as work slows down a bit.
Dane County Week Ahead 4/18/22
Not much for the county board this week - but the new supervisors will get sworn in on Tuesday!
City Week Ahead 4/18/22
A few missing agendas but plenty happening this week, including a whopper of a long Council Agenda . . .the length of agenda has no impact on the length of the meeting.
Dane County Week Ahead 4/4/22
County Board meets this week with many lame duck representatives after the election on Tuesday.
City Week Ahead 4/4/22
No council meeting this week, or any meetings on Tuesday due to local elections.
Madison City Week Ahead 3/21/22
Plan commission special meeting on transportation, Blaska v. City of Madison and many more interesting agenda items this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 3/14/22
Somehow the County Board can manage to get quorum for their virtual meeting!
Madison City Week Ahead 3/14/22
While over 5 council members apparently can't be bothered to appear for their meetings via zoom, the rest of the city marches on.
Overdose Spike Alert Issued in Dane County
It's been going on for a few weeks now, but Public Health just issued this alert.
Dane County Week Ahead 3/7/22
Full week with full agendas, opioid overdose alert, lakes/flooding updates and complaints from staff of color in two departments caught my attention.
Madison City Week Ahead 3/7/22
Police and Fire Commission interviews and evaluation of candidates, Chief Barnes on body cams, Finance, Plan and other committees.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/28/22
County Board meets to vote on MORE money for the jail, will it pass?
City of Madison Week Ahead 2/28/21
This week's the City gets an F for public notice. I think there are a record number of closed session portions of or entire meetings, lack of recommendations and missing agendas. I'm seeing red.
City Week Ahead 2/21/22
Council meets this week and a whole lot more going on, check it out!
Dane County Week Ahead 2/14/22
Jail consolidation, PFAS and more this week!
Madison City Week Ahead 2/14/22
All the exciting meetings coming up this week!
Dane County Week Ahead 1/31/22
A little bit of this and a little bit of that plus Dane County Board meets this week, but lots of routine items.
Madison City Week Ahead 1/31/22
February! Council meets this week, Metro Network Design and BRT moving forward, Housing Forward plan and more.
Dane County Week Ahead 1/24/22
More jail updates, county hiring outside council to sue over PFAS cleanup, lots of routine items.
Madison City Week Ahead 1/24/22
Light Plan Commission and Urban Design agendas and a smattering of other committee meetings.
Madison City Week Ahead 1/17/22
Packing a lot into 4 days, council meets tonight, lots of other things that might impact your neighborhood.
What will the council talk about tonight?
Well, here's a hint. Tho' I expect they will talk about more than this.
Dane County Week Ahead 1/3/22
A few more meetings than the city, but still a slow start to the new year.
Madison City Week Ahead 1/3/22
Only 10 meetings this week? Or only 10 meetings that made it on the schedule? I'd check the Konkel Daily Round Up (home page) for mo' meeting throughout the week.
MMSD extends winter break, will return virtually
Here's the press release from the district. Seems like we're going backwards again.
Dane County – 10 Supervisors not running for re-election
County Board shake up in the works! At least 10 new people will be on the board, and potentially up to 18 of the 37 supervisors.
Madison Downtowners: Remember how not to get ticketed when it snows?
Ah, its that time of year again. Alternate side parking! Even when you think you got it right, it sometimes fails! Here's the scoop!
Dane County Week Ahead 12/20/21
4 meetings, most on Tuesday this week. While everyone else slows down, work on the jail continues.
Madison City Week Ahead 12/20/21
Short week this week, no meetings Wednesday or Thursday. Happy Holidays, enjoy the winter break!
Dane County Week Ahead 11/29/21
A handful of meetings on this quiet last week of the month, beginning of December.
Madison City Week Ahead 11/29/21
End of the month has fewer meetings, including an Ethics Board meeting which is a rare occurrence.
Dane County Week Ahead 11/22/21
Only 4 meetings this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 11/22/21
Short week, but but there are still 10 meetings this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 11/15/21
County Board redistricting public hearing, lots of finance items that were likely delayed due to budget.
Madison City Week Ahead 11/15/21
Will budget (silly) season over, 31 meetings this week, 5 without agendas and 2 cancelled meetings.
Dane County Week Ahead 11/1/21
Budget season meetings cancelled, but still moving towards a final budget amendments.
Madison City Week Ahead 11/1/21
November already, alders are busy with budget, and there's a full week of meetings ahead, including council meeting.
Dane County Week Ahead 10/26/21
Budget, budget, budget, budget - Personnel and Finance meets three times this week!
Madison City Week Ahead 10/25/21
Lots going on this last week of October - and its budget night at Finance Committee.
Dane County Week Ahead 10/4/21
Budgeting and redistricting, redistricting and budgeting! It's that time of year folks!
City of Madison Week Ahead 10/3/21
This is the worst I've ever seen it - 9 missing agendas for scheduled meetings - that we know of . . . there are likely more "mo' meetings" this week!
Dane County Week Ahead 9/27/21
Final vote on county redistricting maps and a whole lot more this week.
City Week Ahead 9/27/21
Last week of the month so fewer meetings, but its budget time!
Dane County Week Ahead 9/20/21
Just a few meetings this week. Public hearing on redistricting on Thursday at 7:00.
Madison Week Ahead 9/20/21
A ton of meetings this week, seems like the committees are multiplying instead of getting rid of committees.
Madison City Council: What will they talk about tonight?
Not much - except Reindahl, officially. You know its always more than indicated on the consent agenda.
Madison Schools Week Ahead 8/30/21
Well, it's been a while. But here's the Madison Schools Week Ahead . . . we'll see if I can keep up during the school year.
Dane County Week Ahead 8/30/21
Homelessness, affordable housing, lake levels, COVID, erosion control and stormwater management and other cheery things on agendas this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 8/30/21
City Council meeting this week, lots of talk about homelessness and development, liuor licenses and upcoming events.
Dane County Week Ahead 8/23/21
It's your Tuesday/Thursday week ahead . . . no meetings today or Friday, only one Wednesday.
Madison City Week Ahead 8/23
Here's your end of summer city government committees that are still chugging along . . . .
Dane County Week Ahead 8/9/21
Not many county meetings this week - 7. Reports, budget recommendations, redistricing and who wins district 20 election.
Madison City Week Ahead 8/9/21
Parking at Villager Mall, Reindahl Park, Public Housing Eviction Plan post-eviction moratorium and more . . .
How will the Extended Eviction Moratorium affect Dane County
County Board Supervisor and Legal Action of Wisconsin Attorney Heidi Wegleitner gives us the preliminary scoop!
Dane County Week Ahead 7/26/21
PFAS, PFAS, PFAS and some other items on the agendas this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 7/26/21
Several cancelled meetings this week, but still plenty left to talk about - Judge Doyle Square (again!) and more.
Dane County Week Ahead 7/12/21
Who should be responsible for the PFAS contamination at the airport - Airport Committee discusses and more . . .
Madison Week Ahead 7/12/21
Full week of meetings this week - war on/criminalizing people without homes heating up. (kicking out of Reindahl park, removing benches, banning alcohol in park, etc.)
Men’s Shelter is still 2 – 3 years away, if we move forward now
Staff have 4 properties, but the alders who defeated the last men's shelter property are still arguing about what criteria staff should look at - but were defeated.
Madison City Council will talk about what tonight?
Only Alcohol at Allied Park? And whatever else people might register to speak on . . . and public hearing items.
What do campers at Reindahl need? Ask them!
I've been quiet for a minute on this blog due to volunteering my ass off at Occupy Madison, and perhaps I've been away for too long?
Search Criteria for a “Fulltime Men’s Shelter”
It's been a few months since the vote on the men's shelter and tonight the Common Council Executive Committee is set to vote on shelter criteria.
Dane County Week Ahead 7/5/21
County meetings this week - redistricting, change orders for the jail and spending more COVID related funds.
Madison City Week Ahead 7/5/21
Busy partial week ahead, body cams, criminalizing people living at Reindahl, men's shelter discussions, ARPA funds and more.
Madison Police Officer Resign Rather Than Face Discipline
Who are they? Where might they be working now? Shouldn't we be able to know without months of delay in open records requests?
Dane County Week Ahead 6/28/21
5 meetings with 11 relevant agenda items, slow last week of the month.
Madison City Week Ahead 6/28/21
Plenty of meetings even tho there is a fifth Tuesday and Wednesday and its the last week of the month and I'd expect there to be fewer meetings.
Dane County Week Ahead 6/21/21
Also not that many meetings this week - county board meets this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 6/21/21
Seems like not a lot of meetings this week - but there will be decisions at finance on spending the ARP federal funds
Dane County Week Ahead 6/14/21
Still virtual, still chugging along . . .
Madison: City Week Ahead 6/14/21
33 meetings this week, 3 cancelled, still only one in person.
Dane County Week Ahead 6/7/21
Feels like this weeks agendas are a whole lot of reports and presentations, not much legislation.
Madison City Week Ahead 6/7/21
Still all virtual meetings except one . . . how long will that last? CCEC will be discussing.
Madison, what will the city council talk about tonight?
Nothing? Nothing is excluded for discussion. Could it be possible? Likely not.
Dane County Week Ahead 5/24/21
Plenty of County meetings - update on the Jail project and the ARP funds the county is getting.
Madison City Week Ahead 5/24/21
Last week in May already, and committees are chugging along, lots of BRT and more.
Madison City Council: What will they talk about tonight.
Reindahl Park, Southside Parking Ramp and more . . .
City Attorney’s Office Attempt to stop Reindahl resolution protecting encampments
COVID is over, back to "normal" for people experiencing homelessness. In typical last minute fashion, the city attorney plays Dr. No.
Madison New Reindahl Park Encampment Resolution
Last night, in a marathon session, the City-County Homeless Issues Committee unanimously approved this substitute resolution the City Council will consider tonight.
Dane County Week Ahead 5/17/21
County board has the $13M for people without housing to go from hotels to housing - but will there be landlords to rent to them?
Madison City Week Ahead 5/17/2021
Another showdown over homeless issues, will the people at Reindahl be forced to move? And more . . .
Madison Parks Superintendent “I have no desire or plan to forcibly remove campers from...
Here's the update sent to alders, park commissioners and parks staff today.
Madison Week Ahead 5/10/21
Finance, Plan Commission, housing issues, affordable housing landbanking, chronic nuisance ordinance and more.
Resolution to Allow Unhoused Campers to Remain at Reindahl (and other) Parks
Last night at the city council there was a resolution introduced to allow the campers without houses/traditional roofs to remain at Reindahl and other parks.
Madison City Council – What will they talk about tonight?
Here is the consent agenda the council members will all be looking at tonight. Other items may be added on the floor.
Council President Syed Abbas Alder Appointments
I blogged about the mayoral appointments a while ago, here are the Council President Appointments.
Madison’s Men’s Shelter Vote Tonight
By all accounts, the vote is very, very close. People are predicting they only have 14 of 15 needed votes.
Another County Board Resignation/Appointment/Barely Noticed Special Election
It's the new trend, I've lost count but I think its the 6th in about 4 or 5 years.
Dane County Week Ahead 5/3/21
County board meets this week, budget discussions for 2022 are starting and more . . .
Madison City Week Ahead 5/3/21
Council meets this week - men's shelter is up for a vote - will it pass? Lots of other meetings, but generally a slow week.
Dane County Week Ahead 4/26/21
How will the county plan on spending the next $106M in federal funds . . .
Madison Week Ahead 4/26/21
Finance Committee, Plan Commission, Urban Design and more this week.
Meet the new city council!
8 new alders get sworn in today, with the most diverse city council ever, will it matter? Here's the committees alders got assigned to.
Dane County Week Ahead 4/19/21
How will the county spend the $106M coming to Dane County? Find out Thursday night!
Madison City Week Ahead 4/19/21
New alders sworn in this week and saying goodbye to the outgoing alders, more orientation for the newbies and a few other meetings this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 4/12/21
24 meetings this week, 1 missing agenda - opposing non knock warrants, F-35s and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 4/12/21
33 meetings so far, new alder training, 3 missing agendas, and much more.
Dane County Week Ahead 4/5/21
County Board meetings this week, redistricting committee continues their work and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 4/5/21
Don't forget to vote on Tuesday if you haven't already. Only 15 meetings this week, but watch for more to be added.
Madison City, Schools and Dane County Week Ahead 3/29/31
I'm late, but you didn't miss much, MMSD and Dane County have no meetings this week. City only had 2 yesterday . . . and 12 the rest of the week. Spring break, I guess.
District 2 AHAA Answers: Benji Ramirez Gomez and Patrick Heck on Housing & Homelessness
The Affordable Housing Action Alliance asked the City Council candidates their views on several housing questions. Here are their answers for District 8
District 3 AHAA Answers: Charly Rowe and Lindsay Lemmer on Housing & Homelessness
The Affordable Housing Action Alliance asked the City Council candidates their views on several housing questions. Here are their answers for District 8
District 8 AHAA Answers: Juliana Bennett and Ayomi Obuseh on Housing & Homelessness
The Affordable Housing Action Alliance asked the City Council candidates their views on several housing questions. Here are their answers for District 8
Dane County Week Ahead 3/22/21
Jail change order, continued work on criminal justice reform and talking with Journey Mental Health.
Madison City Week Ahead 3/22/21
Finance, Plan, Transportation and several other meetings this week, far fewer than last week but still worth a look!
District 9 AHAA Answers: Nikki Conklin and Paul Skidmore on Housing & Homelessness
The Affordable Housing Action Alliance asked the City Council candidates their views on several housing questions. Here are their answers for District 9
District 10 AHAA Answers: Yannette Figueroa Cole & Mara Eisch on Housing & Homelessness
The Affordable Housing Action Alliance asked the City Council candidates their views on several housing questions. Here are their answers for District 10
District 12 AHAA Answers: Tessa Echeverria & Syed Abbas on Housing & Homelessness
The Affordable Housing Action Alliance asked the City Council candidates their views on several housing questions. Here are their answers for District 12
District 14 AHAA Answers: Brandi Grayson and Sheri Carter on Housing & Homelessness
The Affordable Housing Action Alliance asked the City Council candidates their views on several housing questions. Here are their answers for District 14.
District 16 AHAA Answers: Jael Currie and Matt Tramel on Housing & Homelessness
The Affordable Housing Action Alliance asked the City Council candidates their views on several housing questions. Here are their answers for District 16.
District 18 Anders: Rebecca Kemble and Charles Myadze on Housing & Homelessness
The Affordable Housing Action Alliance asked the City Council candidates their views on several housing questions. Here are their answers for District 18.
District 19 AHAA Answers: Keith Furman and Aisha Moe on Housing & Homelessness
The Affordable Housing Action Alliance asked the City Council candidates their views on several housing questions. Here are their answers for District 19.
Madison: What will the City Council Talk About Tonight?
Nuthin'. Nothing was excluded to be talked about by the alders. I guess that is one way to keep the meetings short?
Solutions to Long Council Meetings? Reduce Public Input?
Ugh, I hate these discussions. It's been tried before, the proposed solutions are always the same and its never good for democracy.
Dane County Week Ahead 3/15/21
Only 8 (or 9?) meetings this week, quite the opposite of City. County Board meets this week.
City Week Ahead 3/15/21
28 (or 30?) meetings this week, including a Council meeting. 13 meetings (nearly half) before 4pm.
MMSD: Back to School In Person before May!
Here's the schedule, hot off the presses. News to even MMSD staff members who found out the same time we did less than an hour ago.
National Homelessness Law Center on McPike Park
A little late, since the park is already closed. But interesting comment about FEMA funds and how they are paying 100% reimbursement for funding of hotels.
Madison School District Week Ahead 3/8/21
3 meetings this week. School repoening and 2021-2022 Budget development plus handbook language on Layoffs.
Dane County Week Ahead 3/8/21
Already missed 4 meetings today, but there is still many more meetings happening this week!
Madison City Week Ahead 3/8/21
Finance committee has a full ageinda tonight, plan commission has a lighter agenda, Urban Design, Police & Fire Commisssion, Public Safety Review Committee and Executive Committee of Civilian Oversight Board all meet this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 2/22/21
Council meets this week. Along with many, many committees.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/22/21
Opposing F35s, Phosphorus in the lakes, Diversifying POS Agencies, Criminal Justice efforts, affordable housing and more.
Madison School District Week Ahead 2/22/21
4 meetings this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/15/21
No meetings today or Wednesday. County board meets this week along with 6 committees meetings.
Madison City Week Ahead 2/15/21
Spring Primary Tuesday, so no meetings that day, but plenty of other meetings this week.
Madison School District Week Ahead 2/8/21
Starting work on the 2021-2022 budget, city-county-schools committee discusses internet access.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/8/21
Most of the county work goes on in committees, so if you are interested in any of this weeks items, now is the time to pay attention!
Madison City Week Ahead 2/8/21
Lots of real estate transactions, new location for bus barn, Madison Metro route changes, Reindahl Imagination Center and more.
Daily Round Up – 2/3/21
Oooooooooo - remember these . . . . I'm slowly getting a portion of my life back, so here's one for today!
Body Worn Cameras – Money and Science
Two members of the Body Worn Camera Comittee are asking alders, or someone, to look at how much they really cost, and science.
Madison City Council: What will they talk about tonight?
Here you go - everything will be on the consent agenda except the following and items where people register to speak or if an alder pulls something off the list.
New Police Chief Shon Barnes blows off Public Safety Review Committee
Ok - that headline might be a little unfair, but I'm a little irritated. Probably not at the new chief, but those advising him.
Week of 2/1/21
Dylan and Brenda review the week ahead! Again . . .
Madison Area Schools (MMSD) Week Ahead 2/1/21
Just one meeting this week talking school reopening and Behavioral Education Plan.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/1/21
Redistricting committee continues to meet and county board meets this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 2/1/21
Several committees getting introduced to the new police chief and the council meets this week.
Week of 1/15/21
The water utility, a quarry and more star in this edition of Forward Lookout's meetings to watch out for in the week of January 25th, 2021.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead
2 board meetings tonight - district boundaries, renaming Falk Elementary, reopening policies, recommendations from safety committee and more.
Dane County Board Week Ahead 1/25/21
Alliant energy center, amending jail consultant contracts, more covid funding decisions, purchasing land, zoning issues and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 1/25/21
Body camera public input sesssion, finance and plan commission, co-op ordinance, land banking policy and more.
Tiny House Villages Update
I've been a bit delinquent in blogging the past few months because I've been busy helping build a tiny house village. Check it out!
Madison City Council: What will the discuss tonight? 1/19/21
Here's what was sent and it's likely to change - multiple times - before the meeting tonight.
County Board Week Ahead 1/19/21
County Board meets this week, along with a handful of committees, 10 meetings total.
Madison Week Ahead 1/19/21
Common Council meetings this week along with Police Oversight Exec Committee, Body Worn Cameras and more . . .
Airport Commission Projects – Public Hearing Tonight (UPDATED)
Nothing bugs me more than when there is a public hearing announced, and no readily available information on what the public hearing is about.
County Week Ahead 1/11/21
Click on the agendas to find out how to join the virtual meetings. Here's the summary of what they will be discussing.
City Week Ahead 1/11/21
This week, please click on the agenda to find out how to attend the virtual meetings. I think we have the hang of this now!
Madison City Council 2021-2023 Candidates
Here's the list of who filed by the deadline according to the clerks office. 2 uncontested seats for school board and 1 uncontested judge race.
Madison City Council: What will they talk about tonight?
There were multiple updates this afternoon, I hope this is the final one!!! But it can always change at the meeting when people show up to speak or a member fo the council pulls something off the agenda.
Police Department Report on Tear Gas
This also wasn't originally on the agenda and came out late yesterday. (4:11 p.m.)
Late Breaking Important Addition to Council Agenda
Violence is bad. Council President Sheri Carter and Alder Paul Skidmore have added this item under suspension of the rules.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead 1/4/21
Just one meeting.
County Week Ahead 1/4/21
County Board meets this week and committees are slowly coming back to life at the county - and redistricting committee meeting.
City Week Ahead 1/4/2021
Back in action! The next few council meeting agendas are loaded with items. Committees are also back in full swing.
Week of 12/21/20
Short week ahead, no school meetings, less than a dozen city and county meetings combined.
County Week Ahead 12/21/20
5 meetings all on Tuesday this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 12/21/20
4 meetings this week on Monday and Tuesday.
Week of 12/14/20
Brenda Konkel from forwardlookout.com and WORT's Dylan Brogan preview local government meeting in Dane County and Madison.
Madison City Week Ahead 12/14/20
Full week of meetings before the holidays hit us . . .
Week of 12/7/20
As it happens, a lot of closed sessions meetings this week. Forward Lookout's Brenda Konkel joins WORT's Dylan Brogan to preview local government meetings and agendas.
Dane County Week Ahead 12/7/20
County meetings this week - also a robust schedule!
Madison City Week Ahead 12/7/20
There's no slowing down this week - plenty of meetings, most of them have their agendas posted, but not all.
Police and Fire Commission Name 4 Finalists for Police Chief
It's so odd that as the chair of the city's Public Safety Review Committee we have zero role in this process, but I'm glad it's moving along and I'm looking forward to working with the new chief.
Week of 11/23/20
Short week, but still plenty of meetings reviewed by Dylan Brogan and Brenda Konkel.
Madison School District Week Ahead 11/23/20
Just one meeting this week, school board meets tonight.
Dane County Week Ahead 11/23/20
5 meetings this week at the county.
Madison City Week Ahead 10/23/20
Short week, but still there are 8 meetings. Closed session police chief search discussions.
Week of 11/9/20
Big budget meetings this week in Dane County and Madison. Forward Lookout's Brenda Konkel and WORT's Dylan Brogan preview this week in local government.
Madison School District Week Ahead 11/9/20
Just two meetings this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 11/9/20
It's budget week at the county too! They may finish tonight, if not they'll be back on Wednesday.
City Week Ahead 11/9/20
Big plan commission meeitng with big buildings, PFC complaints and the next police chief and city budget will be passed this week!
Updates on Occupy Madison Tiny House Village at Wiggies (1901 Aberg Ave)
I blogged this yesterday at Occupy Madison, but what we accomplished in 3.5 weeks (and years of preparation) bears repeating.
Week of 10/26/20
The lovely Chali Pittman fills in for Dylan Brogan so you'll be spared the bad jokes!
Madison School District Week Ahead 10/26/20
Madison School District budget public hearing and vote plus millions of dollars of contracts moving forward assuming referendum passes.
Dane County Week Ahead 10/26/20
Budget amendments are being presented to Personnel and Finance Committee this week. Now is the time for public input - Health and Human Needs and Public Protection and Judiciary are on Wednesday.
City Week Ahead – 10/26/20
4th week of the month so fewer meetings, but Finance Operating Budget meeting and special Plan Commission meeting this week, plus Council meets (no agenda) but it should be for replacement of Alder Donna Moreland who resigned.
What will the council speak about tonight?
Here's the "consent agenda" for this evening - it can always change if an alder pulls something off the agenda at the last minute or if folks register to speak.
3 ways to help the Wiggies Tiny House Village (OM North) this week!
There is a council meeting tonight for zoning, county meeting Thursday for funding and of course, there is always fundraising!
Ending Temporary Encampment and Kicking People Out of the Parks
Everyone agrees, sleeping outside in a tent in Wisconsin winter is unacceptable. But if you have no where else to go, no legal place to sleep . . . what are you supposed to do?
Madison City Week Ahead 10/12/20
There were at least 5 missing agendas this week - but . . . sorry this is late, slightly distracted.
New Occupy Madison Tiny House Project!
Well - the roll out of this didn't go as planned - but here we are and this is what I know! The last week has been a whirlwind!
Sad News – Dane County Supervisor Paul Rusk passed away
From the Dane County Board press release:
What will the council talk about tonight?
It's been amended twice, but hopefully this is the correct info at this point in time!
Proposed process for hearing regarding Alder Paul Skidmore’s derogatory comment
Tonight's council discussion on the "it rhymes with blunt" comment should be interesting to watch.
Madison School District Week Ahead 10-5-20
Meetings and referenda town halls and information sessions.
Dane County Week Ahead 10/5/20
Budget meetings on the County Executive's budget put out just last week - you've read the whole thing, right?
City Week Ahead October 5, 2020
Council meeting, special Common Council Committee of the whole (no mayor) meeting with no agenda and lots of committee meetings.
Round Up 9/26 – 30
FAIL! Again - over a week behind on the updates . . . for a good reason you will all hear about soon.
UW Student Government vote of “no confidence” in UW Police Department
Interesting list of demands and resolution - looks like the students are taking on what many would like to see the council do.
Next steps in complaint against Alder Paul Skidmore
City attorney wrote a memo outlining what the council's next steps are in responding to the complaint against Alder Paul Skidmore.
Week of 9/28/20
Dylan Brogan rants about reducing the size of the council! How about 100 alders? and more . . . go Dylan go!
Donna Moreland resigns from Madison City Council (UPDATED)
No one I know of has seen the resignation letter, but apparently she resigned and its already been decided to fill the vacancy so close to an election?
Madison: Expect public input and info friendly changes with the Common Council
Many have tried, but COVID finally forced the city's hand, and they had to make it happen. Now permanent changes are on the way!
Additional information about the police budget
I have two pieces of info that didn't make it in our draft report I thought people might be interested in.
Council authority over police department budget
For as long as I can remember, the council has been told that the power it has over the police department, is the power of the purse.
Homeless Services Needed before winter
The Education and Advocacy Committee of the Homeless Services Consortium wrote the following letters to Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway and County Executive Joe Parisi.
Capitol Neighborhorhoods urge police reform
I never thought I'd see the day where the large downtown neighborhood consortium would be urging police reform. They call on the city to "reprioritize" the budget.
Madison School District Week Ahead 9-28-20
2 referenda meetings and School Forest Advisory Board meeting this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 9/28/20
Meetings on Tuesday and Thursday, and only 5 meetings total including county board and Exec meetings on Thursday.
Madison City Week Ahead 9/28/20
No meetings on Monday due to Yom Kippur, joint transportation meeting, council workgroups and three Public Safety Review Committee meetings.
Thursday/Friday Daily Round Up 9/24 & 25
The Friday Round Up is always the largest one of the week, lots of city updates on Fridays.
Mon – Wed “Daily” Round Up 9/21-9/23
Late, but still relevant information to be shared.
City of Madison public listening session on the police department budget
The Public Safety Review Committee formed a subcommittee to write a report, we did the best we could with limited support, and are having a public hearing, will anyone attend?
Weekend Round Up – 9/20-21
Weekend local news desert - and forwardlookout was slacking this weekend, working on tiny houses and police budget report!
Amendments to Madison Capital Budget at Finance Committee Tonight
Affordable housing, a new homeless shelter, buying a hotel for temporary housing, mental health ambulance costs? I wish . . . instead we got the following 12 amendments to the Mayor's budget.
Madison School District Week Ahead 9/21/20
A couple referenda education meetings, closed session and open session board meeting and watch for meetings to get added this week.
Dane County Week Ahead 9/21/20
Budget season not yet started, affordable housing funds and criminal justice reform at a couple meetings.
Madison City Week Ahead 9/21/20
Capital budget amendments, public hearing on the police budget, affordable housing issues and more!
Thursday (9/17/20) and Friday (9/18/20) Round Up
Was a really busy end of the week, but here's what I have!
Complaint against Alder Paul Skidmore asking for censure and resignation
Here is a copy of the complaint against Alder Paul Skidmore with a great explanation of why he should resign.
Wednesday 9/16/20 Round Up
News round up and commentary, Dane County be a good landlord, Green Party side of the story and more.
What penalties could Alder Paul Skidmore be facing?
The city attorney Michael Haas opines. Apparently a complaint has been filed in the clerk's office.
Madison’s current thinking on implementing “mental health ambulances”
Last night at the Public Safety Review Committee we heard a report from the Fire Department on their research and recommendations/thoughts.
Daily Round Up – Tuesday, September 15th
Local government news, brush collection, International Day of Peace, 414 E Washington Ave project and MMSD referenda propaganda.
Madison: What will the Council talk about tonight? 9/15/20
Here's the "consent agenda" meaning all items on the agenda pass in one motion with the following exceptions and changes.
Week of 9/14/20
The nearly didn't happen week ahead with WORT . . . thank you Jonah!
MPD costs to pepper spray and tear gas protesters over 3 days = $$18,619
I don't feel the response to my open records request from June was satisfactory, but near as I can tell, it cost at least that much!
Monday, 9/14/20 Daily Round Up
DNR news on drinking water and PFAS, music as economic recovery and the local government news rundown.
Madison Police Department had big increase in “no knock”/”high risk” warrants in 2019
At the end of June I asked for a list of "no knock" warrants for the past 5 years, Friday I got the request back.
Which departments were aiding Madison during the May 31-June 2 initial protests?
You'd think the answer would have been forthcoming sooner than this, but I finally, 3 months later, got the answer.
Friday/Weekend Round Up 9/11-9/13
Friday usually has a dump of relevant information, and the weekends are usually very quiet. Here's what I have!
Alleged “Daily” Round Up/Catch Up
Well, that was a fail this week! Life took over and I have hardly no time for blogging . . . here's what you missed.
Madison School District Week Ahead 9/14/20
Operations Work Group and Community Session on Referenda and more.
Dane County Week Ahead 9/14/20
Public Hearing on Dane County Human Services Budget, County Board meeting, redistricting, lake levels, mental health restoration center and more.
City of Madison Week Ahead 9/14/20
This week has it all - spending room taxes, public market, council meeting, plan commission, economic development, transportation, affordable housing, etc.
County Budget Hearings Tonight – What are YOUR priorities?
Now is the time to weigh in! Sending a loud and clear message now can shape future discussions, to the extent the county has public discussions on the budget.
Details on UW quarantine and shift to on-line classes for 2 weeks
Here are the details from Chancellor Rebecca Blank on what is being ordered.
This week the County discusses Criminal Justice Reform AND Criminal Justice Reform
Which flavor of criminal justice reform do you support? Which one does your county board supervisor support? Two different committees this week will discuss.
What you need to know about the CDC Eviction Moratorium
Good news, all properties covered, not just federally financed properties. Bad news, you have to take action to be protected and there are some limits.
Madison School District Week Ahead 9/8/20
2 meetings - Instruction Work Group and Safety and Security Ad Hoc Committee
Dane County Week Ahead 9/8/20
10 meetings, 2 have missing agendas. County Board budget hearings start this week.
City Week Ahead 9/8/20
Short week, but still 18 meetings! Starting at 8am Tuesday morning, several are in closed session.
Daily Round Up – 9/4/20
Here's your news round up and various other announcements and tidbits that didn't make it in to their own post!
Alders need better support to do their work, Skidmore needs to fess up (Updated)
I was an alder for 8 years. It seemed like I was always running into a "no" - a brick wall. There wasn't support to help you do what you wanted to do, just no. no. and no. This Alder Skidmore kerfluffle is just the latest example of the internal crap of being an alder.
Jail Derailed? Not quite.
Not sure what to think of this. Paused is good, completely derailed is better. I think they should vote on resolution 145 and set a clear direction.
More Timely, Improved Round Up
Ok - going old school, the way my round ups used to be. Going to post more frequently with more news in here - things that could be their own posts if I had more time!
With the Common Council vote with BLM or to protect the status quo?
The Civilian Oversight Board and Independent Monitor are up for a vote at the common council tonight, when we get to find out if "Black Lives Matter" is rhetoric, or if we are ready for real reform.
Delinquent Round Up
I'm not going to admit how many days its been . . . but its been a while. Here's some of the latest!
Week of August 31, 2020
Dylan and Brenda discuss upcoming meetings, that city council meeting looks like a long one!
Recommendations for Madison Police Department protest policies
One of the PSRC subcommittees has been working on reviewing the police department policies around protests. Here is our work so far, and next, we move on to recommendations.
We stand with the Madison Police Department AND want to shoot protesters
It's a real scary group of people who support the Madison Police Department, check out what they want to do! Could Madison have a Kyle Rittenhouse type incident here?
Madison School District Week Ahead 8/31/20
The last two weeks there was no legal notice when I looked, this week we finally have on again!
Dane County Week Ahead 8/31/20
County board meets, Executive Committee may vote on redistricting and special presentation on mental health ambulances.
City of Madison Week Ahead 8/31/20
After their break in August the council has a looong agenda! Plus 18 other meetings, most on Wednesday.
Which Madison Police Officers are in those helmets?
MPD doesn't know. They can't tell us? So when we watch video and might catch a glimpse of a number on a helmet, there are no records that could help us verify who it was.
Supervisors and Alders raise concerns about UW “Smart” Restart (Updated)
Dane County moved "Forward" and cases spiked, now the UW is going to do a "Smart Restart" with likely similar results. Fancy well branded names can't fool science.
Dane County Week Ahead 8/24/20
No lull this August, a full round of meetings with full agendas.
Madison City Week Ahead 8/24/20
Last week of August and the committees are going strong, making up for lost time due to months of not meeting while the city committee were shut down.
Week of August 17, 2020
Chali Pittman joins Brenda Konkel filling in for Dylan Brogan - talking the city, county and schools week ahead.
Airport PFAS Website
Dane County Regional Airport has created a PFAS Information Web Page, video etc., what can you find there?
How to give input on next police chief?
Police and Fire Commissioner Fabiola Hamden lays it out for the LaSup email list. Here's the info.
Dane County Board Supervisors: Job Center re-opening jeopardizes workers
Here is the letter of concern they wrote to Madison and Dane County Public Health Director Janel Heinrich.
We know what we need to do to curb gun violence
We have all the recommendations, we just don't have the follow through/political will to put the needed money in the budget.
8 Can’t Wait Changes Madison Rankings – We slid backwards!
At first we had 3 of 8, then 7 of 8, now 6 of 8 . . . turns out the last change is because they were looking at 2015 policies and we've gone backwards since then.
Roadmap to Madison Police Department Budget: Work in Progress
The Public Safety Review Committee (PSRC) has a budget subcommittee that is working on a report so people can understand the police department budget.
Two Week Round Up (8/3-8/16)
Slacker! Some of the updates are no longer relevant so I excluded them, but its a little longer than usual thanks to my slackitude!
Madison School District Week Ahead 8-17-20
Sigh . . . your guess is as good as mine!
Dane County Week Ahead 8/17/20
No August lull in county meetings!
City of Madison Week Ahead – 8/17/20
City seems to be back to normal as far as committee meetings go - except there are a large number of parks related meetings that are still cancelled.
Don’t Count on Trump’s Eviction Moratorium to help you!
I mean, you're not surprised are you? Fair warning, its empty promises.
Oh shit! What is the Mayor going to do to us now?
I don't know why, but I have a a sense of dread . . . . what she going to do to us now?
New Madison Police Chief to be paid $130,255-$175,844
Applications are due September 14th, 2020. Here's the official job announcement!
Week of August 10, 2020
Brenda Konkel and Dylan Brogan discuss what is up in the week ahead in local government meetings.
Madison Powerless to stop UW re-opening trainwreck that is coming?
Madison City Attorney Michael Haas shared a legal memo by his staff outlining the legal uncertainty of the power of public health orders over the UW.
City of Madison Wells: All have PFAS or “forever chemicals”
Get your reverse osmosis or activated carbon filter now - every single city of Madison well was tested and PFAS chemicals were found in every single one of them.
City of Madison 2nd Quarter Projections: Surplus and No Layoffs
After all the bad news and hand wringing and calls for more federal support, looks like the 2nd quarter projections have the city $2.4M in the clear.
Madison School District Week Ahead 8/10/20
Just one meeting, school board meeting, South Rimrock Road School and committee to rename Falk Elementary School.
Dane County Week Ahead 8/10/20
County Board meeting, Public Health giving an update, redistricting and potential decision on size of the county board, and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 8/10/20
Policing issues discussed at Finance, PFC, PSRC, EOC, Body-worn Cameras committees, operating budget presentations by finance department and more.
Public Safety Review Committee has 28 items on its next agenda
From a sleepy committee that did nothing, to a committee with so many things to talk about it has to form subcommittees and schedule extra meetings . . . late to the game, will it make a difference?
COVID 19 and homelessness, what’s the plan?
So, in this new world we are living in, everything is constantly changing and plans made are reworked as change occurs. Focusing on the big picture and long term is hard when we don't know what the long term will bring . . . but . . . . there is a train wreck coming.
What will the Madison City Council talk about tonight?
Lots of extra materials and the expected items that will be talked about tonight.
Week of August 3, 2020
Brenda Konkel and Dylan Brogan highlight what's going on in local government meetings this week.
Shorter Plan Commission Meetings = Less Meaningful Public Input?
Tomorrow the Plan Commission has an entire meeting dedicated to "options to shorten Plan Commission Meetings" i.e. how to cut off public voices and benefit the developer.
Catching Up: Karma for Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau
Well, that didn't work out so well now did it? What appeared to be a money grab in 2017 is now a cut in funding.
Catching Up: Police and Fire Commission on police chief hire
On Tuesday the Police and Fire Commission is meeting and only has one item on the agenda. It has some information about how they will be gathering input.
Dane County looking to improve online meetings
So we can see the screen when there is a shared screen, see the people on the committee and they can see us when we speak.
Substantial Updates to MMSD Use of Restraint and/or Seclusion Policy
This policy was last updated in 2012. Here's the latest updates being discussed.
Updated Plan for Ad Hoc Schools Security Committee
This looks pretty different than the last time I blogged about it - added charge, new members, new timeline.
Round Up Monday 7/27 – Sunday 8/2
The usual with a few extra things tossed in to keep it interesting. Round ups of round ups and mostly city information.
Madison District Schools Week Ahead 8/3/20
2 meetings Monday, Instruction work group looking at Title IX and Restraints and Sedlusio Policy plus virtual learning. Schools board in open session on Security Ad Hoc Committee and closed session on property purchase.
Dane County Week Ahead 8/3/20
3 meetings, 2 others cancelled. Board of Health supporting Forward Dane Plan, COVID Updates and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 8/3/20
Last Council Meeting until September, last?0 Civilian Oversight Committee meeting before council discusses, police chief hire, shorter plan commission meetings? and more.
I agree with Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway AND the Police Union?
Good grief, what hell do we have to be living in for the stars align to make that happen? Two extremely unlikely events converge in the Mayor vs Police Union spat.
Catching Up: Independent Civilian Oversight of the Madison Police
Alders Shiva Bidar, Donna Moreland and Rebecca Kemble will have their 8th meeting today, with another meeting scheduled for Wednesday at 5:00.
Madison Metro Bus Route Changes for the Fall
There was a 25 minute presentation/discussion at the Transportation Commission on Tuesday, and here is what they decided and what you can expect for changes in August, including when fares might return.
Madison Area Round Up Mon 7/20 – Sun 7/26
All the usual updates of upates and round ups of round up - plus a few extra things thrown in.
With reduced jail populations, do we need a new jail?
Thursday the Health and Human Needs Committee voted in favor of halting the jail, jail populations are down at least 40%, Madison police are arresting less people, we have new leadership on the Criminal Justice Council, can we actually bring our ourselves to create real change in the criminal "justice" system? Will any of this make real, meaningful change?
Madison District Schools Week Ahead 7/27/20
2 meetings this week and one input session.
Dane County Week Ahead 7/27/20
Only 5 meetings and all their meetings are on Monday and Tuesday.
Madison City Week Ahead July 27, 2020
3 cancelled meetings, 4 missing agendas, 6 or 7? meetings on policing matters, development rolls on (Plan meets twice, UDC & Jt. Campus meets) and more!
Dane County Criminal Justice Council Gets New Leadership
And they heard about a new report on the jail population.
No Confidence Vote in Chief Wahl by local community members and organizations
The list was literally growing as I was typing this blog post . . . so expect many more to sign on.
What will Madison City Council talk about tonight?
Well, this is what the email says . . . it may change before or at the meeting! Half the agenda has new recommendations for action by the council.
Week of July 20, 2020
Highlights of the week ahead for city, county and school board meetings with Brenda Konkel and Dylan Brogan.
City Housing and Homelessness COVID-19 Response and Recovery Draft Strategies
What should the city be doing for housing and homelessness in recovery from COVID-19? Input needed Thursday for how to spend millions of COVID-19 funds.
Round Up Mon July 13 – Sun July 19
A whole week's worth of updates again. Alder updates and many of the usual updates from the City of Madison.
Cops out of Madison Schools: Committee to decide what is next
Tomorrow the Madison School Board will consider a proposal for a "Safety and Security Ad Hoc Committee" - the proposal has much more detail now.
How should the county spend its remaining COVID-19 money?
I've lost track, they were down to $2M, then the state said they couldn't spend the money they way they designated it, and now I think they have $33.8M.
Madison Schools Week Ahead July 20, 2020
Just two meetings this week - update on reopening MMSD schools and Safety and Security Ad Hoc Committee and "Employee Handbook"
Dane County Week Ahead July 20, 2020
2 missing agendas and discussion of what to do with remaining COVID funds and more.
City of Madison Week Ahead July 20, 2020
4 missing agendas, 6 cancelled meetings, council meets again this week then not again until August.
Madison Police Department budget memo
Unlike other departments, every year the police department puts out a memo on its operating budget request. The requests were due on the 10th but won't be available to the public until next week. Here's what they had to say.
MMSD will be all virtual to start the school year
Hot off the presses . . . MMSD announces it will be all-virtual to start the 2020-2021 school year.
City of Madison suspended parking restrictions . . . until further notice . ....
Seems like they were updating this almost weekly . . . but now it seems they are just admitting we are in this pandemic for a little while longer . . .
How large should the county board be?
The county board wants input on how large the county board should be - your thoughts?
Want to serve on the Dane County Redistricting Commission?
They are seeking applicants to be considered! Here's all the info if you're interested.
Getting serious about mental health ambulances?
I've heard people talking about this for at least the past 5 years . . . but are we getting ready to do something about it?
What will the council talk about tonight (
Here's what the alders have picked off the agenda for discussion or additional actions.
Madison Police Status Report on 177 Ad Hoc Committee Recommendations
Today the Madison Police Department report on the 177 Ad Hoc Committee Recommendations was supposed to be on the agenda for acceptance by the council, but its not.
Protest policy questions for Madison Police Chief to answer tomorrow
Tomorrow at 6pm the police chief Vic Wahl will attend the Public Safety Review Committee (PSRC) subcommittee to answer the following questions.
Week of July 13, 2020
Brenda and Dylan back at it - running down the weekly meetings for city, county and schools.
Round Up Sun – Sun, July 5 – 12
A week's worth of dumps of information that you might find of use . . . alder rounds ups give you insight into just how much they are not kept in the loop of what is going on.
Madison School District Week Ahead
Superintendent contract being voted on without public input and isn't attached for review. No public input on referendum questions vote. Student Senate virtual rally for youth input.
Dane County Week Ahead 7/13/20
Lake levels, more funding/toys for the sheriff's office, budget discussions and department equity reports for budget.
City Week Ahead
Council meets this week, missing agendas, meeting cancelled and lots of scrambling to make up for lost time and address current issues.
Ordinance to prevent Madison Police from using tear gas, mace & impact projectiles
A simple ordinance has been introduced by Alder Max Presigiacomo banning the use of these "less lethal" weapons that the police department uses.
Mayor says to hire a New Madison Police Chief in the next 90 days?
What is the sudden hurry? This is kind of unreasonable and bordering on irresponsible. The hiring process will take longer than that if they start today!
Is Dane County Board serious about Black Lives Matter?
We're about to find out. Will the County Board Supervisors vote to stop plans to build the jail? Will they get more than 4 or 5 votes?
Madison Police and Fire Commission Seeking Input on Next Police Chief
Groups can sign up to give input, input at PFC and other ways to provide input.
Week of July 6th
Dylan and Brenda run down what's happening this week in local government
Madison Police: Rethinking the future, where to begin?
As chair of the Public Safety Review Committee I'm still struggling to figure out how to be effective in this moment. There is so much to be done . . . and where can have the impact?
Round Up – June 29 – July 4
Lots of updates and round ups and city announcements that aren't enough for their own blog post.
Madison School District Week Ahead – 7/6/20
No legal notice for this week? No meetings?
Dane County Week Ahead 7/6/20
County Board meetings this week, redistricting, recommendations from Behavioral Health Subcommittee of the Criminal Justice Council and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 7/6/20
7 meetings have no agenda including Common Council Executive Committee and the Finance Committee, so I'll probably have to do a major update throughout the week. I've never seen the lack of agendas be so bad.
Cops are out of schools, what’s next?
Cops being out of the schools is just a first step, sadly there is so much more work to do. Here's what else Freedom Inc. is calling for.
Week of June 29
Forward Lookout's Brenda Konkel and WORT host Dylan Brogan walk us through this week in (virtual)public meetings in Madison and Dane County.
Employee Handbook removed from Madison School Board Agenda tonight
Here's the press release. Interesting phaseology about why it has been removed.
How will Dane County Spend its $95M in CARES Act money
Well, here's the list . . . look what has been flagged as ineligible.
Alders, County Board Supervisors call for COVID-19 rebound metrics and more
Contract tracers, mandate masks in public, close bars and restaurants for in-person service and more. Plus serious questions about Chamber of Commerce roles in reopening plan when our elected officials were not asked for input.
Wed – Sun Round Up 6/24 – 28
Rounds ups of round ups and info you might be interested in.
Dane County Phase 2 COVID 19 numbers rising and why we aren’t required to...
So, the Dane County numbers are going up, up and up (4 to 5 times more new cases) and the percentage of test coming back positive are like they were end of March and beginning of April. But there's no going back . . .only forward.
Dane County Board Criminal Justice Reform Package
It's not enough until they decide not to spend $150M on a new jail and and figure out how to keep the jail population down 40% like it is now. And the triage center has to be the number one priority, so there are options other than the jail.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead 6/29/20
Voting to "terminate the MMSD School Resource Officer contract effective immediately." budget, employee handbook and hiring new superintendent.
Dane County Week Ahead 6/29/20
Youth Commission discussion on current events, Lakes and Watershed budget, courts impact on reduced jail population and more.
Madison City Week Ahead June 29,2020
Civilian oversight of police, jail expansion at Urban Design, Oscar Mayer Special Area Plan, downtown recovery and more.
Madison School Board has chosen 2 final candidates for Superintendent
Sure hope this round goes better than the last one . . . I didn't even know they were meeting today to decide.
Madison Police Reported “Use of Force” Incidents for 5/30 & 5/31 – Part 2
Yesterday I blogged about the officers who clearly wrote "use of force" incidents into their police reports provided to the council. Here's some more that weren't immediately obvious when reading through all 100 pages of reports.
Votes to remove cops from Madison Schools on Monday’s school board and next council...
Both School Board President Gloria Reyes and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway announced they will be putting votes before their bodies to end the police contract with the Madison School District!
Governor Evers re-activates National Guard for Madison protests
Good grief, this can't be good . . . I thought we learned our lesson, what's next, curfew?
Madison Police Reported “Use of Force” Incidents for 5/30 & 5/31 – Part 1
In response to the alders requests about police response to initial George Floyd protests , this is what the police department released. It's 100 pages, but my guess is there are some incidents missing.
Round Up June 19 – 23, 2020
Updates of updates and more updates, city and county.
Week of 6/22/20
Here’s Brenda Konkel and Dylan Brogan with a preview of what’s happening this week in the city of Madison and Dane County.
City Employees make recommendations in response to protests
Professional and Supervisory employees call for police accountability, oppose the jail and more.
Madison Police Budget presentation 6/22/20
This is the presentation from Finance Department on the police budget to the Public Safety Review Committee subcommittee on budget.
Your questions about Madison police response to protesters
I asked on Facebook "The Madison Public Safety Review Committee will be reviewing police protest policies. What would you ask or change?" Here's the responses.
Anonymous “Urgent” letter from State St. Businesses
19 demands . . . and while they say some of the right words, their safety section is the same old, same old and they are still trying to chase people without homes out of Peace Park because its become "undesireable".
What do all of our Madison police officers do?
In the police department 2020 budget they are allocated $86,783,406 and has 116.70 civilian positions and 482 sworn positions. About 200 are patrol officers, what does everyone else do?
Vision Zero: Madison’s plan to reduce traffic crashes, fatalities and injuries
All 20 alders have signed on, the plan is moving forward, but is this what we need to reduce crashes - and injuries and deaths? Will it be enough?
Madison Capital Budget Agency Requests are (almost) out!
Tomorrow mid-day, right before the Finance Committee meeting, the agency requests will be available for the public to review, here is what they are telling us now.
Oscar Mayer’s Environmental Contamination
The city is spending $80,000 to hire a private sector attorney to represent them in the purchase of the property for the bus barn. Why?
Madison School District Week Ahead 6/22/20
Closed session to start considering applicants for Superintendent position.
Dane County Week Ahead 6/22/20
Court's impact on jail population and COVID-19 response, an in person meeting!!!, drama over eviction prevention money (white supremacy in action!) and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 6/22/20
Police budget, capital budget initial presentation of agency requests, business support programs, Oscar Mayer site plans, Vilas Park plan, many transit and other issues as committees begin to meet again.
Overture Cutting Staff Positions – More info on Overture’s future next week
I'm sure they'll be coming to the taxpayers with their hands out again during the next city budget . . . the only question is how much?
Mega Round Up June 4 – 18
Well that got away from me. I. Can't. Keep. Up. Interesting times we're living in. Here's some mostly City related items you might be interested in. For up to date news, see the Konkel Round Up on the home page. Updated multiple times per day.
Verona Patio Session 6/14/20 Seaside Zoo Lite
Last Sunday, I got another private concert with Seaside Zoo Lite (minus Jonas Pritzel) - it was great except for the lawnmowers and chain saws . . . but even that wasn't so bad.
What will the Madison City Council talk about tonight – 6/16/20?
Remember, this agenda was amended about 24 hours ago, so there are additional items (surveillance cameras, letting committees meet). And there are more changes here - including removing funding for police toys.
Madison Police Union words of advice to Madison Mayor
The Madison Professional Police Officers Association (MPPOA) "take a stand" and advise the mayor on how she should have written her press releases and suggests she educate herself. They say she is "fueling the flames of discord and anger".
Madison PFC attorney misunderstands committee intent for Civilian Oversight
In response to the letter from the Police and Fire Commission (PFC) Attorney, former PFC member, ad hoc committee member and law school professor explains why PFC attorney is wrong in overlap of PFC and Civilian Oversight Board.
Late breaking items for tomorrow’s Madison City Council Meeting
4 items have been added to the Madison Common Council agenda for tomorrow - just barely under the wire to meet open meetings laws.
Madison Metro’s Use of Buses for National Guard
The Transportation Planning and Policy Board will be discussing this matter tonight at their meeting at 5:00.
Madison Police Department Impact on 40% reduction in the jail?
I was curious what the Madison Police Department changed during COVID-19 and how those changes are impacting the low jail population. Here's what I found.
Madison Police Chief response to Alders protest questions
Well, more of a 31 page non-answer with a page and a half of recapping what they say happened and only half a page of non-answers.
Madison Police and Fire Commission Attorney Concerns on Police Auditor and Civilian Oversight
Let the power struggle begin. Systemic change at the local level is hard when we don't control so many things. Exhibit A.
Madison School District Week Ahead 6/15/20
Operations Workgroup discussing referendum planning and preliminary budget, Nuestro Mundo and MSCR Advisory Committee also meet.
Dane County Government Week Ahead 6/15/20
Money continues to be liberally distributed, county board gets diversity training and public health update, 5 year consolidated plan, redistricting and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 6/15/20
Council meeting, civilian oversight board, Mayor visits Economic Development Commission, ALRC meets and more.
Judge Chris Taylor!
I like the sound of that!!!! Was sad she'd no longer be my Assemblyperson, but this is awesome!
Read Past the Headlines: What did School Board President Gloria Reyes commit to?
To "incorporate a strategy of options to remove School Resource Officers (SROs) from our school buildings." Does that mean removing police from the schools?
Madison Police Chief Vic Wahl reports on their perspective of the protests and riots
Last night at the Police and Fire Commission meeting Acting Police Chief Vic Wahl reported on their role in the protests and riots.
Madison School District Week Ahead
Board meets on Monday and Tuesday, closed and open session.
Dane County Week Ahead 6/8/20
COVID-19 updates (jail and others), PFAS contract amendments for airport, funding for more homeless services (including security) and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 6/8/20
Police (Monday), police (Tuesday), police (Wednesday) and some other things known and yet to be published.
Verona Patio Sessions 6-6-20 with Sunshine Daydrink and Burbie
I was privileged to spend my Saturday afternoon with a private concert with Sunshine Daydrink and special guest, Joe Burbach on keyboard.
https://youtu.be/qjGlXZ0TGqY
How do protesters and others want Madison Police to change?
And more importantly, how do we get our elected officials to start talking about that change?
Round Up, May 29 – June 3
It's taken me a minute to find my blogging voice again. Everything else seems trivial compared to what is going on in the streets across America.
Freedom Inc, Urban Triage, PSL Solidarity Statement
For days I've been saying that we've seen peaceful protests for years, and not much changes. I feel like I understand why people would be smashing windows at this point.
Madison (Police) Violence must stop
Council meets tonight, see you (virtually) there? The horrific display of police violence towards protesters has to stop. Police have to admit the role they played in the chaos and agree their violence must stop too. The council should demand a full investigation.
Madison Metropolitan Schools Week Ahead 6/1/20
Instruction work group and public input session along with Rainbow Flag Raising Event.
County Week Ahead 6/1/20
County board meets to spend millions of dollars, redistricting is moving forward . . . and more.
Madison City Week Ahead
Council meeting, COVID 19 updates, retroactive permissions but no extension of the emergency powers past June 2? And no change to the ordinance about committees meeting?
Round Up May 25 – 28
Salvation Army shelter and alder updates, what city committee meetings can and can't meet, protests, meeting info and more.
County Board Seeking Input on how to spend the spent $95M
With $93 of the $95 Million already named how it will be spent, the county board is looking for input. Two meetings tonight to weigh in.
CDA Updates on COVID-19 and Armed Security Guards
Well, half the meeting was spend on this update, most of it on COVID-19, lack of internet services, masks, food, transportation, etc.
Public Health responds to Alders and Supervisors
I feel like its a bit of a non-answer and unsatisfactory. They say they can't get the data and they agree with some parts of the letter.
Alders and Supervisors express concern over reopening plans
Well - thank you alders and supervisors! The response from leadership was not so great.
Dane County reopening plan not supported by science
This is the full email by Dr. Gregory Gelembiuk to city and county elected officials showing why reopening now is not a good idea. It's politics and threats of legal battles vs. science yet again.
Dane County spending $24M to put homeless people in hotels, $9M would house them.
Last week I was trying to do the math on what it would take to get our homeless population in to housing . . . is there a better way the county could spend $24M.
Round Up May 19 – 24!
Not much over the holiday weekend, but several things from the end of last week.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead
School Board has the week off. 2 meetings this week.
Dane County Week Ahead
Continued discussions on where $95M goes in the community, Criminal Justice Council meeting, Parisi to present at food council and more.
Madison City Week Ahead
UDC and Joint Campus Committee moving developments along, ALRC discussing separated alcohol licenses 2 nights this week and still lots of cancelled meetings!
Madison Mayor: Nevermind, no furloughs
Sigh. No furloughs for now. May be re-evaluated later. Back to be "if", not "when". And other updates from the mayor.
Where will the County $95M in CARES Act Funding go?
Nearly half of it will be already be publicly committed before the county board even meets to discuss it tonight.
What will Madison City Council talk about tonight – 5/19/20 (Updated)
Only two items separated for discussion. Everything else will pass with recommendations on agenda unless separated at the meeting, or the public shows up to speak.
Round Up May 13 – 18
Ya caught me slackin'. Here's the various round ups and information that doesn't merit its own post (heads up - it's long!), plus a little bit of random musings from me.
Madison Plans for August and November Elections
The Mayor will be speaking at the CCEC today. One of the handouts that she prepared for the meeting includes the following:
Week of 5/18/20
Important meetings and agenda items this week in Madison, Dane County and the Madison school district. With Forward Lookout's Brenda Konkel and WORT's Dylan Brogan
Mayor’s latest thinking on furloughs – not if, but when.
The mayor's statement from earlier today. She hopes to decide by next week.
Madison City Council to adopt new Historic Preservation Plan
The resolution includes "accepting" not "adopting" the Underrepresented Communities Intensive Survey Report as well, which includes a list of places to be considered as landmarks.
What are Madison’s Options for the Golf Courses?
Tomorrow the Task Force on Municipal Golf in Madison Parks will meet, and here are the options being provided to them.
New Madison Stormwater Ordinance moving forward
While the rest of the city committee structure was shut down, this Madison Stormwater Ordinance moved forward and is on Plan Commission and Board of Public Works agendas this week.
Madison Schools Week Ahead
5 meetings this week, another closed session meeting. All meetings via Zoom.
Dane County Week Ahead 5/18/20
8 meetings, jail consolidation committee updates, $3.5M for childcare, what will county spend its COVID-19 money on, redistricting and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 5/18/20
At least 13 meetings still cancelled - Council, Executive Committee, Plan Commission, Golf study committee, Board of Public Works, ALRC, and several smaller committees all meeting this week.
Round Up May 10 – 12
Here's another round up of rounds up and additional city and county announcements you may be interested in.
Mayor’s Plan to re-open city services
Not really much of a plan - turning the dial not flipping the switch, plus budget info.
Week of May 11, 2020
County back in full swing, city still not allowing many committees to meet. Brenda and Dylan Brogan walk through some of the highlights.
County Budget Instructions from Executive Joe Parisi
Sometimes I just hate repeating the propaganda . . . but here it is . . . will the jail be going forward?
New Madison City Attorney
So we have a new city attorney nominated by the mayor, to be confirmed by the City Council . . . crossing. my. fingers.
Madison prohibits recording City Zoom meetings without permission
Approval is currently provided for Boards, Commission and Committee meetings that are either Type 1 or Type 2 meetings.
May 6 – 9 Round Up
One more week and I'm free from my consulting job and will have only one full-time job and Forward Lookout! Then blogging can "return to normal"!
Madison Metropoitan School District Week Ahead
Dammit, they got me again last week with the amended legal notice - the meeting was on the calendar for Forwardlookout but not in the week ahead.
Dane County Board Week Ahead 5/11/20
County Board back in full swing! Only one cancelled meeting. They've figured it out, just make sure you register 30 minutes before the meeting if you want to participate.
Madison City Week Ahead 5/11/20
Keeping development rolling! Also Police and Fire Commission, Transit Commission, Finance Committee, Parks Commission and Monona Terrace committees meeting this week.
Madison Mayor Emergency Order #2
This order is for unsheltered homeless persons and creates safe outdoor spaces for those not staying in the shelter.
Filling Madison’s $30M budget hole for 2021 starts now?
They're not going to fill a $30M shortfall by not ordering paper and pens. And we'll be paying for some pretty expensive curb painters and grass cutters.
Mon & Tues Round Up – May 4 & 5
A round up of round ups and updates to from the city and county.
Madison Mayor’s 2021 Capital Budget Instructions
Call me crazy, but this looks like just about any other year when it comes to the capital budget. Mayor urges caution, justify your projects, nothing half-baked and everything will be closely scrutinized.
Week of May 4
Dylan Brogan joins Brenda Konkel from Forward Lookout to team up again to let you know what is in the week ahead - city, county and schools!
What will the Madison City Council talk about tonight?
Nothing? Nothing has been pulled off the agenda for separate discussion for tonight. I'm sure they will still discuss things, tune in to find out.
Dane County extended State of Emergency means . . .
2 different staff people explain, this extends county ability to get federal funding reimbursements through July 15th - the "safer at home" order still expires May 26th.
County Board a “rubber stamp” for $95M?
Tonight the Personnel and Finance Committee will meet to discuss several items but among them is spending FEMA emergency funds and $95M in CARES funding, but the decisions have already been made and the funding is already being spent.
Weekend Round Up – May 1 – 3
Alder and bike updates, F-16 night flights, water main flushing and that's about it for the weekend.
Madison School District Week Ahead
2 or 3 or 4 meetings on Monday. BOE closed session, open session, Instructions Work Group Public Input and meeting.
Dane County Week Ahead
Retroactively approving $3,000,000 for food, homeless services contracts and small business loans. Personnel & Finance, CDBG, Board of Health, County Board and more meeting this week.
Madison City Week Ahead
Council meets this week, historic preservation and Oscar Mayer plans moving forward, Food Policy and Public Health and others meetings this week.
Tues-Thursday Round Up
Finishing consulting jobs and having a new full time job is kicking my butt - so here's a whole bunch of things that could be their own post if I had more time. Just a few more weeks and I'll only have one job and a blog!
Meet your new Madison City Council Executive Committee
It's not really what I expected. Seems almost counter-intuitive and the conservative end of the council. Will be interesting to see what they do. Or don't do - three weeks from now.
Nevermind, here’s the real Madison City Council budget schedule
There's nothing more annoying that reading materials for a meeting and then finding out they were discussing something entirely different that wasn't available to the public. Bad. public. transparency.
Weekend & Monday Round Up – April 25 – 27
I think I got it all, but some things may end up in today's round up.
6 Dane County Projects get WHEDA tax credit awards, other don’t (Updated)
The Valor (veterans affordable housing) and Salvation Army not funded at this time, Salvation Army not eligible.
Week of April 27th
Forward Lookout's Brenda Konkel and WORT host Dylan Brogan walk us through this week in (virtual) local government. Development, development, development.
Madison City Budget timeline and process to be decided
At Finance Committee Tuesday night they will be discussing the revised timeline for the 2021 budget and the city council process.
Most Madison committees shut down, development rolls on
There's only 4 meetings this week, but over 30 different developments will be discussed at the meetings. What makes development so much more important than other issues?
Friday Round Up – 4/23/20
Usual random mish-mash of useful updates from various sources, enjoy!
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead 4/27/20
3 meetings and one public input session.
Dane County Board Week Ahead 4/27/20
County Board Chair says, time to get back to business, committees can meet again. 5 are meeting this week.
Madison City Week Ahead 4/27/20
DEVELOPMENT WEEK!! While everything else is shut down, development rolls on - 33 projects. 4 meetings and a yet to be noticed Common Council Executive Committee meeting?
Dane County Board Chair committee appointments are out
These are the most powerful Dane County Committees and who the Dane County Board Chair Analiese Eicher appointed to each one of them.
Alders ask Madison City Committee Chairs to violate open meetings laws
I tried to tell them this at the CCEC meeting, but they didn't listen. Sent out the request, and I pointed it out again, and now, they seem to agree.
City Attorney’s Parting Cheap Shots!
For 20 years Progressive Dane has been meeting with its elected officials prior to city and county meetings . . . and now, its a problem?
Wednesday & Thursday Round Up – 4/22 & 4/23
Updates and round up, random thoughts, city face mask policy, golfing, stormwater, salt, virtual Sustainable Saturday and more.
Tuesday Round Up – 4/21/20
Alder daily round up, homeless services consortium updates and thank you to community, federal eviction moratorium, childcare for essential workers, demolitions and more.
Meet your new Madison and Dane County Leadership
Both the Madison City Council and the Dane County Board elected new leadership yesterday at their "organizational" meetings.
Madison/Dane County, where will you apply for eviction prevention dollars?
The United Way recently gave about $800,000 to over 50 agencies for eviction/homeless prevention. If you are a renter, where will you apply?
Common Council Executive Committee Recap 4-21-20
Short 40 minute meeting, mayor's update, voting on Surveillance Cameras ordinance and report without PSRC recommendation, Konkel's response after the meeting and updates from the Council President after the last meeting.
What will the Madison City Council talk about tonight? (UPDATED)
This has 5 substitute pieces of legislation, an introduction item and one more missing substitute along with the consent calendar - voting for council president, looking at mayoral and council powers, following up on ad hoc police policy committee recommendatoins and more.
Dane County Board to discuss public comment rules for the next two years tonight
The Executive Committee and county board staff made quite a few changes to how the public can give input to the county board. I'm encouraged by the changes so far.
Week of April 20, 2020
New county board sworn in, council electing president and vice president, mayor's emergency orders and more.
Madison Mayor didn’t need any emergency powers
Tonight the City Council votes on the 23 emergency orders the mayor had to make - but were any of them actually something that had to be done in an emergency? No. Not. one.
(Adopted?) Dane County Climate Action Plan
Yesterday the plan was "released" and the press release said it was "adopted" on the same day? Beyond that curiosity, what does the plan say?
Monday Round Up – April 20
Konkel's random musings, council elects new leadership at tonight's meeting, or not? Alder updates, WHEDA looking for affordable housing input and more.
1st Quarter Madison Police Report
Shots fired down 35%, Robberies down 19%, Burglaries down 5.5%, Use of Force up 21%, African Americans 47% of arrests, 180 pages of policy changes, cops have adequate PPE and testing and more.
PSRC can meet? Or can’t? Yes? or No?
I can't make heads or tails of the answer from Council President Bidar about if PSRC can meet. I think its a no. Maybe? Wait? Also, here's what it takes for committees to meet.
Let the Public Safety Review Committee meet?
As a committee chair, I have received no communications from the city about the status of our committee and when and if we can meet.
Finance Committe Recap 4/6/20
This has the city's updates on how COVID-19 will impact the city's finances from nearly 2 weeks ago. It's a old, but still good info.
Friday & Saturday Round Up, April 17 & 18
Konkel's musings, Alder and bike updates, metro feedback and detours, water main flushing, plant sale and more.
When will Madison City Committees Meet again – the latest update
The Common Council Executive Committee met on Thursday to discuss. They never voted on anything, so it's unclear what is happening next, but here's the latest information.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead
Only Nuestro Mundo meeting, via zoom, but no meeting information available.
Dane County Week Ahead 4/20/20
Alliant Energy Center Redevelopment Committee, new County Board and Cultural Affairs Commission Grant Review Subcommittee meeting.
Madison City Week Ahead 4/20/20
Council to act on Mayor's emergency orders, no agenda for CCEC, Olbrich, Madison Development Corporation, Board of Public Works and ALRC meetings.
Tue-Thurs Round Up – April 14 -16
Three days worth of announcements, updates, petitions, etc.
Meet your new Dane County Board
11 of the 37 county board supervisors will be new this year. 8 ran unopposed. These County Board Supervisors will get sworn in on April 21st.
Round Up – Monday, 4/13/20
Alder round up, fire dept objects to closing streets, committee assignments for alders, help get masks to health care workers, Conservation Congress voting tips from League of Women Voters, stimulus checks for people who don't make enough money to file taxes and more.
Emergency Orders: Mayor Explains – Part 2
This is part two summarizing the attorney's 51 pages of memos explaining the mayor's emergency orders.
Madison Mayor’s Ethics Violations
This seems to be the most unethical city government we've had in years . . . first 2 alders, now the Mayor clearly violating the ethics laws.
Street Closures: “We shouldn’t waste a good crisis”
The mayor said "we shouldn't waste a good crisis" and here it is in action. Does anyone actually we believe we have to close streets to protect the safety of residents so bikes and pedestrians can social distance?
Round Up – Friday/Saturday, April 10 & 11
Konkel's observations, Alder, homeless services and bike updates, COVID-19 Wall of Shame, surveys, petitions, Conservation Congress voting, new judge appointment and more.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead 4/13/20
I no longer have faith that anything I write about the schools will be correct. Here's what they claim is their legal notice for meetings this week.
County Week Ahead 4/13/20
Tallying the election results and Office of Equity and Inclusion Advisory Board meeting.
City Week Ahead 4/13/20
Plan Commission continues approving developments, Transportation approving bus routes and rubber stamping emergency actions taken, counting the votes from last Tuesday's election and more.
Join Jail Protest tomorrow!
Join the motorcade or help to circle the jail while practicing social distancing and making yourself heard!
The Party for Socialism and Liberation - Madison...
Round Up – Thursday, April 9th
Alder and homeless services updates, housing hotline, Dane County Parks open, any more mayoral orders?, city committees that are allowed to meet, bloopers and more.
Emergency Orders: the Mayor Explains – Part 1
Actually, the City Attorney's office explains in 51 pages of "Emergency Resolution Memos". I read all 51 pages so you don't have to, here's the summary! And Konkel's got questions!
Brenda Konkel new Executive Director MACH OneHealth
So, things may slow down a bit around Forward Lookout! Duty calls! Many regular posts will continue, but it will be a little harder to keep up!
Eviction Ban Updates from Legal Action of Wisconsin
FAQs and a video on the Eviction ban that was declared by the Governor on March 27th and goes through May 26th, unless extended.
Round Up – Monday and Tuesday, April 7 & 8
Elections (old news), homeless services and alder updates. Bus survey, demolition, Adams Outdoor advertising and more.
Week of April 6, 2020
Local government meetings go virtual and boards of canvassers resemble a famous physics cat, in this episode of Forward Lookout for April 6, 2020.
School Board Closed Session Yesterday – Start over on Superintendent Search?
I sure hope so! But they are off to a terrible start. They already met in closed session yesterday. And plan more closed session meetings.
Follow the (Coronavirus) money rolling in to Dane County
$95M is coming to the County, $24.4M for our bus system, $1.1M in CDBG funds, Small Businesses (including nonprofits) to get forgivable Payroll Protection loans, we've been declared a federal disaster area and more on the way? Who decides where that money will go?
Dane County Budget and Coronavirus
On Monday, March 30th the Personnel and Finance Committee got an update on "Fiscal Impact of Coronavirus on Dane County." The minutes are from March 9th, the recording doesn't seem to be available yet, and there are no attachments with this presentation.
Round Up – Friday & Saturday 4/3 & 4/4
Elections, Council and homeless services updates; Water main flushing, bike updates and more.
Madison Clerk’s Update on safe voting on Tuesday (Updated)
This is what the clerk's office sent out for those who will be voting in person on Tuesday. Looks like it was sent to poll workers.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead 4/6/20
Public Input meeting on ??, Instruction Work Group Meeting and elections related meeting.
County Week Ahead 4/6/20
County board actually doesn't meet again to do business until May. 1 meeting this week that has one item on the agenda.
City Week Ahead 4/6/20
Council President Shiva Bidar and Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway allow one meeting, Finance. CDA and elections meetings also happening. 8 items to be decided/recommended.
Provide PPE to homeless medical shelter workers
How do people working in homeless medical shelters not have PPE? I was thinking about this all night. I'd volunteer to be in the shelters, but I have diabetes so I couldn't do it without proper protections in place. However, the shelters don't have PPE like police and fire do, not even at the medical shelter.
Dane County Board Meeting Recap 4-2-20
1.5 hours of the county board doing committee work on the county board floor. Good to see some actual discussion at one of these meetings! Allowing committee meetings virtually, extending board terms if election postponed, jail phone calls and visitation, counseling services for homeless in hotels, benefits fraud investigators and farewells from the 9 outgoing supervisors.
Virtual Rally Today at Noon
Yes, a virtual rally! It's on Zoom at noon today and they are rallying to postpone the election.
Round Up – Thursday, 4/2/20
Common Council, elections and homeless services updates, F-35s, CARPC, parking and parks announcements and more.
Madison Police Discipline Report – 1st Quarter
Here's the 6 disciplinary matters resulting in suspensions, additional training and letters of reprimand for incidents that happened 8/13/19 - 12/26/19.
Alder Marsha Rummel to run for state assembly seat vacated by Chris Taylor
Madison Alder Marsha Rummel Announces Bid For State Assembly!
New Madison Metro General Manager Announced
Yesterday the mayor notified the alders that they have a new Madison Metro General Manager.
Common Council Executive Committee Recap 3-31-20
Items deemed essential to talk about are creating a body worn camera committee, MPD report on Ad Hoc Committee recommendations, discussion on surveillance camera policy is referred, Mayor briefs them on COVID-19 responses and council discusses their role in government during the pandemic.
Madison Mayor’s Briefing to CCEC on COVID-19 response
Mayor walks through the priorities, what they are working on, how they are working, how they reassigned staff and much more.
Monday and Tuesday Round Up 3/30 & 3/31
City Council, Homeless, Elections, Parks Updates and more . . . several of these items deserve their own post if there were enough time in the day!
What will the Madison City Council talk about tonight 3-31-20? (Updated)
Alternate to Mayor's emergency proclamation, Appeal of Amazon Facility denial by Plan Commission, sending 100 police to Milwaukee for Democratic National Convention, and more.
Madison Mayor’s Emergency Orders to cost $1.1M
Financial projections of the mayor's unilateral actions now have a fiscal note. Here's where it will cost money!
Will Madison City Council abandon their responsibilities?
Tonight on the Executive Committee Agenda as well as the Council Agenda there are several items where the council will decide if they give their statutory responsibilities to the mayor during this pandemic and so far the mayor's orders are project to cost over $1M.
Will Madison City Council oppose F-35s tonight?
The Common Council asked the Airforce to reconsider Truax "until and unless the findings of the EIS are shown to misrepresent the significant environmental impacts to those living, working, and visiting the north and east sides of Madison" The EIS is out, not much has changed, will the Council oppose the beddown of the F-35s tonight?
Madison Amazon facility, will the council let it go forward?
Tomorrow night, among the items on the City Council agenda is upholding the plan commission denial of the Amazon facility at 3630 Milwaukee Street. It takes 2/3 vote to overturn and they would risk legal action if they don't.
City of Madison Housing Helpline
The City of Madison has set up a "housing hotline" for people to call with housing problems. Here's the details I have on the City of Madison Housing Helpline.
Amid Pandemic: City, County and School Board take time off
After meetings this week, neither the City Council nor the County Board will meet until April 21st (3 weeks), School Board not meeting until the 27th (4 weeks)? Each body will meet only once in April. The mayor seems to be the only decision maker at the city at this point, with the council rubber stamping decisions. What roles should our alders, supervisors and school board members be playing in this pandemic? How are they representing us in this crisis?
115th Figher Wing (WANG/Truax) out of compliance with DNR orders
The 115th Fighter Wing out of compliance with DNR orders continues to pollute and discharge PFAS. Wisconsin Air National Guard (WANG) didn't comply with its deadlines of doing an investigation and submitting a work plan.
Round Up Saturday 3/28/20
This is mostly updates to alders. Daily Round up, elections, emergency orders, schedule of allowed committee meetings, response to metro drivers and more.
County Week Ahead 3/30/20
Last County Board meeting of this County Board, they won't meet again until April 21st to be sworn in after the elections - hopefully we have elections!
City Week Ahead 3/30/20
Governing in time of crisis - test city council meeting, Transportation Policy and Planning Board, Common Council Executive Committee, last Council meeting until April 21st (3 weeks) and Board of Public Works and that's it! Everything else cancelled.
Governor’s Orders: Landlord Entry and Evictions Prohibited
The governor issued orders today halting eviction actions (except to protect victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking) until May 26th. But you still will be responsible for paying your rent.
Equity? 2 weeks later – Madison’s men’s homeless shelters still not sufficient for social...
Homeless men continue to be crowded into spaces where they can't social distance, and won't have a solution for night time until Monday. Day spaces to remain over-crowded.
Round Up – Thursday 3/26/20
Alder, housing, election and homeless updates, golf survey, men's shelter finally getting a larger place on Monday and more.
Madison Mayor’s 23 emergency actions
I can't believe these things couldn't wait 5 days for the council to meet. The mayor is definitely doing all she can for the business community, I haven't seen much for the average worker/renter/democracy in Madison.
Madison Mayor Declared a State of Emergency
Did you notice? It was several days ago that the Madison Mayor declared a state of emergency and I never heard about, can't find the order and it wasn't in the news.
Round Up – Wednesday 3/25/19
Alder, elections and Homeless Services Consortium Round Ups, Metro Driver with COVID-19, police stations close, democratic process shut down concerns, housing and homeless updates and much more.
And still, the homeless shelters wait . . .
The shelters need more space for people to be able to appropriately "social distance" and to meet basic needs, people without homes are being forced to risk their health.
Madison Police Chief hire should wait
The City of Madison Government public participation process is for all intents and purposes shut down, now is not the time to move forward with the police chief hire.
Round Up – Tuesday 3/24/30
Updates of roundups! Homeless services consortium, the City council, elections updates and more.
Dane County Airport Noise Complaint Form Useless
I've filled out the noise report form on 4 occasions and never once gotten a response - and neither have many others.
Finance Committee Recap – COVID-19 Budget Presentation
City Council's first remote meeting, mostly focused on the financial update by the finance department and a few other items.
Madison/Dane County Press Conference on COVID-19
A summary of what Madison, Dane County and the Public Health Department are doing due to coronavirus and reminders to the public.
COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts on City of Madison Budget
City has only spent $125,000 on the crisis beyond staff time. "Normal" budget process being delayed, budget will be focused on cost-to-continue and Covid-19 responses.
CDC Advice for Homeless Populations
This is the press release from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty that says what we should be doing in our community, according to the CDC.
Updates on Madison/Dane County homeless services amid COVID-19
Homeless services are not subject to the state and Madison/Dane County Public Health orders limited gathering to 10 or more people, instead, homeless people are being forced to congregate to get life sustaining needs met - food, shelter, etc.
Q&A with Madison alders in time of crisis
I asked a series of questions about the role of an Madison alder in time of crisis, and some of the Madison alders spent time answering the questions, here's what they had to say.
Why aren’t Madison alders helping to set city priorities?
This isn't a knock on the alders - this is a problem with all the committees being shut down and everything being controlled by the mayor's office and the EOC and maybe, to a much lesser extent, if any, council president.
County Board Cuts off Public Input on Health Care of Jail Inmates
Several residents of Dane County tried to bring their concerns to their elected officials on Thursday and were denied. And the Public Protection and Judiciary meeting is cancelled this week. How do residents communicate with their elected officials in the world of coronavirus?
How’d that Virtual Dane County Board Meeting Go?
Dane County Board had a 46 minute virtual meeting where they have a 10 minute roll call, cut off members of the public for not being germane, allow virtual committee meetings and delay seizures of properties for not paying taxes.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead
Madison School Board will be meeting via Zoom. No public appearance - only by written registration.
Dane County Week Ahead 3/23/20
Who knew public hearings would still be going on? County has 3 meetings this week.
City of Madison Week Ahead – 3/23/20
Here's the items that the Mayor and Council President deemed important enough to allow the committees to meet or bodies that have enough independence they can't stop them from meeting.
Madison Area Round Up – 3/19/20
Mostly housing and homelessness related today . . . most other immediate needs issues have been resolved or are on their way.
What? City Attorney says Madison City Committees CAN meet?
I thought they needed to pass a law to avoid confusion, so that is what the Council did Tuesday evening. But the very next day, contradicting information was sent out?
Madison Area Round Up – 3/18/20
Here's the items not included in the basic needs guide or the Konkel Round Up news aggregation. Updating things as quickly as humanly possible.
Madison council to reconsider sending police to Milwaukee DNC
Reconsideration of sending police to Milwaukee DNC has been requested by Alder Paul Skidmore and Attorney May has directed staff not to sign the agreement.
Dane County Board to Meet Remotely on Thursday
The county figured it out before the city? Not what I expected! Here's the details of how you want access the meeting.
Common Council Meeting 3/17/20 (UPDATED!)
Live blogged. Will update periodically. Controversial items referred. Will discuss meeting electronically and prohibiting committees from meeting.
Public Health Update to Madison Alders – 3/17/20
This will just be the highlights of what the alders learn as it is being live blogged.
Round Up – 3/17/20 ( EXTREMELY UPDATED!)
Things are flying at me so quickly and there are so many things to report, much of it is getting dumped here if it is not included in the basic needs guide or the Konkel Round Up news aggregation. Both those resources are being updated as quickly as I can! See end of the post for actions you can take from home!
Governor Evers limits gatherings to 10 people
Elections still on - local elections must continue. Expect more closures and cancellations . . . and community services to be cut.
What will the Madison City Council talk about tonight? 3-17-20 (Updated)
AirBnB ordinance and Amazon being referred, discussing electronic meetings and prohibiting committees from meeting.
Week of March 16, 2020
The longer version than what you will you on WORT - Many government meetings are cancelled due to the coronavirus response. WORT's Dylan Brogan gets the latest from Brenda Konkel on what meetings are still conveying and what comes next.
Open Letter regarding Public Safety and Community Services
The Mayor and Council leadership are proposing to prohibit committees from meeting, while development and alcohol licenses might be important for the economy, what about services to low income people and public safety?
What does a Wisconsin, Dane County or Madison “State of Emergency” do?
I have found few people who can tell me anything except what most think of - calling up the National Guard and FEMA money from the federal government. What else?
Dane County Board to Meet Remotely Thursday
County Board staff sent out an email with the following instructions for committees as well as notification that they will test the use of "go to meeting" to be used for the county board meeting on Thursday.
Madison Mayor and Council Leadership to Prohibit City Committees from Meeting
Under the proposal of the Madison Mayor and Council leadership - only 6 committees would be allowed to meet. All others would be prohibited.
Madison and Dane County Sunday Press Conference on COVID-19 (Updated with order)
Today at 2:30 there is a press conference, you can watch it live here. They will be announcing limiting gatherings to 50 in Dane County, more school closings and more.
Coronavirus: Meeting Basic Needs in Dane County
Being homeless, one paycheck away from being evicted or not being able to put food on the table in good times is hard in Dane County. Coronavirus is shutting down programs and suspending supports for those in need.
Madison and Dane County Plans for Government Meetings by Phone
The Common Council will meet on Tuesday and the County Board will meet on Thursday. They both have plans to pass ordinances allowing them to meet by phone.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead – 3/16/20
At the press conference on Friday, School Board President Gloria Reyes said they still plan to meet on Monday because they have important things to do, but I don't see it on the legal notice.
Dane County Week Ahead – 3/16/20 (Updated)
3 - 5 of the 10 meetings cancelled. County Board and Executive Committee meetings still scheduled.
City of Madison Week Ahead? – 3/16/20 (Updated)
At the moment there are at least 6 cancelled meetings. I'd expect more by next week. One one meeting noticed with people appearing by phone. Conoronavirus update and Council meeting plus so much more.
How does Madison function with 20% of our police at Milwaukee DNC?
During the Democratic National Convention people will be staying in Madison because the hotels are all full in Milwaukee and surrounding areas, bar time could be 4:00am and yet will we be down 100 police officers here in Madison. How does that work?
Dane County Human Services “Vision: Next” planning process
Is Dane County Human Services "Vision: Next" planning process another good sign of change coming from Dane County. Sort of? Hopefully?
Dane County Suspends Evictions (Cases) for a Month!
Order came out today saying that Dane County Small Claims Court cases are suspended for a month.
City of Madison Meeting Rooms: No Chairs, Noisy, etc.
City meeting rooms, new and old, are a disastrous place to try to hold a meeting. Having a place to sit and being able to hear seem like basics.
County & Coronavirus: Skype and Fully Remote Meetings?
Just 10 minutes after I posted about coronavirus and putting local government engagement plans on steroids, County Board Analeise Eicher sent out the County Board's current plans.
Coronavirus: An Opportunity to Enhance Local Government Engagement? (Updated)
Could coronavirus put local government's plans to make government more accessible on steroids?
Catching Up: Plans for Reindahl Park Imagination Center
Tonight the Parks Commission and Library Board will be hearing a report on the "Imagination Center" at Reindahl Park. Here's a sneak peak.
Week of March 9, 2020
The long version of what you can hear every Monday on WORT's evening news - the chatty version.
City of Madison Finance Committee Recap 3/9/20
Items discussed in this 3/9/20 Finance Committee recap include managerial pay, rainbow murals, senior services and sending 100 police officers to Milwaukee for the Democratic National Convention.
City of Madison Mayor’s Schedule Week of 3/9/20
Meetings with County Executive Joe Parisi, a couple area mayors, the new school superintendent, non-profit staff meeting, MG&E, several community individuals and staff.
Evening F-16 flights at Dane County Airport this week
With the decision about the F-35s looming over the community, this seems like an odd choice. Feels like they are taunting us at this point.
Airport Consultants Lobbying for F-35s
Mead and Hunt aren't only the consultants on the Jail Project, they are consultants for the PFAS contamination at the airport as well. And, seem to be lobbying in support of F-35s. Does that seem right to you?
Feedback on Madison Metro Bus Route Changes
If you ride the bus have you checked for Madison Metro route changes that might impact you? Feedback mostly seems to be about the UW Campus Route, Route 3, bus stops and Route 35. Hearing on Wednesday! Send you comments in today!
What’s going on with the Madison Police Chief hire?
It's been over 5 months and the Police and Fire Commission has had a dozen meetings since Chief Koval resigned and still no plan for the hiring process has been announced, no search firm has been hired, there hasn't even been an call for applications (RFP or Request for Proposals.)
Dane County to start audio recording meetings!
What a difference leadership makes at the county board level! For years leadership fought efforts to record meetings. Now, standing committees on the county board will be! Transparency and accountability!
Unknown Madison Area Schools Week Ahead 3/9/20
The legal notice for this week's meetings is not on the Madison School Board website. So I only can find one meeting - referendum questions and budget priority actions.
Dane County Week Ahead 3/9/20
F-35s resolution, update on PFAS public meeting, jail needs two more change orders and more.
City of Madison Week Ahead – 3/9/20
Lots of development projects at Plan and Urban Design, Historic Preservation Plan, Metro Route Changes, sending 100 cops to Milwaukee, surveillance report, decriminalization of homelessness and several committees talking (affordable) housing.
Who Signed on to the County F-35 Resolution?
The County board only sent letters for the draft EIS, this time they have a resolution before the county board.
Madison Fire Department Animal Rescue?
Swans, cockatiels and oxygen masks for pets. When did Madison Fire Department start being animal rescue?
Round Up – Thursday 3/5/20
Why the city attorney's office advises minutes to only contain motions and votes, no notes on discussion items, alder communications survey and more.
Another Madison Alder, Another Alder Ethics Violation
It seems like the city is dropping the ball on training our elected officials about ethics. Regardless, Alders need to take responsibility for understanding the rules so we don't have yet another alder ethics violation.
Week of March 2, 2020
Audio version of the three Week Ahead Posts and longer version than you will hear on WORT 89.9 on the Monday evening news.
City of Madison Mayor’s Schedule Week of 3/2/20
Mayor's meeting schedule this week includes Chamber of Commerce, Urban Land Interests, Wisconsin State Treasurer, several community events now listed and tons of meetings with city staff.
Alder Sheri Carter’s Undisclosed Conflict of Interest
Alder Carter has voted for over a quarter of a million dollars, that I could verify, for the non-profit where she is the president of the board. Alder Carter clearly has a conflict of interest she should have disclosed.
“Informal” City-County Homeless Shelter Committee Exposed
This morning Dean Mosiman from the State Journal had an excellent article about the "barely humane" men's homeless shelter. But did it expose illegal meetings by the "informal" city-county homeless shelter committee? And what exactly is this committee doing? Here's what I found out.
Large Property Owners to Sue City of Madison for $1.4M
Large property owners are again challenging their assessments and threatening to sue the City of Madison for $1.4M. Can you imagine what the city could do with that money? Or what they will do without it?
Does Dane County Census Office need more workers?
Elected officials keep talking about the census jobs they need to fill. Question is, do they need more people to apply, or do they just need to process the applications they have?
City of Madison is going to the dogs! Literally.
The new parks policy is one thing, but the ordinance change opens it up so any department or division, not the city council, will allow dogs on Madison property.
Changes to Madison’s Bike Registration Program?
TPPB will consider if the program should be repealed or if Madison's bike registration program will enhance outreach and enforcement. Or will it just continue as is?
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead – 3/2/20
Two meetings this week, bullying policy, advanced learning info session and updates.
Dane County Week Ahead – 3/2/20
Updating public input rules, how many supervisors should they have after redistricting (currently 37), land purchases, AirBnB ordinance and more.
City of Madison Week Ahead – 3/2/20
Another council meeting this week, affordable housing fund review, dogs in parks, golf public input meeting, SSM Health, Judge Doyle Square and Public Market developments, Canopy liquor license, flood mitigation, Air BnB ordinance and more messed up agendas.
Rep. Chris Tayor and Community Response to Final EIS on F-35s
At 10:30 today there was a press conference where Rep. Chris Taylor and community leaders spoke about the final Envionrmental Impact Statement on the F-35s and what is said, or didn't say!
Local Government Ignores the Basics of Resident Engagement
This week the City of Madison agendas are a mess, the county only posts some agendas on-line, School Board meets in closed session more often than open and doesn't have minutes for months, and the School Board, City and County have been posting meeting a day or two before the meeting.
Madison City Council Recap 2/25/20
Recap of Madison City Council meeting lasting just a little over one hour. They referred Amazon, dogs in parks, AirBNB and more.
Common Council Executive Committee Recap 2/25/20
Mayor, task force on government structure, employees climate survey, 2021 budget and replacing legistar are all on the CCEC agenda!
Upcoming Changes to the City of Madison 2021 Budget Process
Council members are talking about ways for the council to be involved prior to the Mayor's 2021 budget coming out and how to educate the public about the budget.
What’s Next After the City of Madison Workplace Climate Study?
City staff had a lot to say about how they are treated in the workplace and the results of the City of Madison Workplace Climate Study were quite embarrassing.
What Will the Madison City Council Talk About Tonight (2/25/20)?
Seems like there was a page missing from what was sent out? Or maybe not? At this point, they will talk about nothing.
Madison Area Round Up Tuesday, 2/25/20
F-35s, Town Hall Meetings, Surveys, Bus route changes, demolitions, where will BRT go on the West side, South Madison changes and more.
Fire! Prescribed Burns Coming to Your Madison Neighborhood?
It can be startling to see fire and smoke in your neighborhood, but sometimes, it's a good thing!
Dane County has ZERO paid lobbyists registered in 2020
In 2019 there were only 3 registrations from 2 organizations. In 2018 there were 3 registrations all from the same organization.
City of Madison Mayor’s Schedule Week of 2/24/20
3 meetings with the County Executive this week! All the rest of the meetings are, believe it or not, with city staff or city council. Believe it?
Dane County Redistricting is Coming!
I wrote about redistricting knowing that it is coming up "soon", then meetings got cancelled and it wasn't on the agenda for the next meeting to follow up. Here's what was discussed that was not in the minutes from the January meetings.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead – 2/24/20
Attachment/Detachment Agreement with Middleton/Cross Plains, Nuestro Mundo DPI Waiver and hiring Police for Special Events.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/24/20
Land purchases, establishing a fines and fees committee, figuring out the Human Services Board function and lots of routine items.
City of Madison Week Ahead 2/24/20
Council meeting this week (AirBnB, Dogs referred) but robot delivery and transit study RFP for approval, downtown alcohol meeting of ALRC, public market and Judge Doyle Square at Plan Commission and more.
What’s New in the Final EIS for siting F-35s in Madison?
Up to $3M in lost tax revenues, up to $171M in lost property value, PFAS levels that exceed drinking water standards of 70 parts per trillion and more.
Media Fail: EIS on F-35s is a decision making tool, not a decision
Reading local headlines one would be led to believe that the EIS was some sort of determination that Madison is still the number one choice for F-35s. That is not what an EIS is . . .
City of Madison Surveillance Report and Ordinance Changes
Tonight the Public Safety Review Committee is looking at the Surveillance report and ordinance that a President's Workgroup worked on for the last 2+. Changes are a comin!
How Did the Air National Guard Respond to Madison’s Comments on F-35s?
How did the Air National Guard respond to the over 6,000 comments made by the public during the comment period for the Draft EIS? I'm not impressed.
Round Up Wednesday 2/19/20
Transportation and PFAS Surveys, Metro Bus Route Changes, Flooding Solutions, Poetry Contest and Bike Updates.
Final EIS for F35s is out – How did Madison Rank?
This is a quick look at the final Environmental Impact Statement released today by the Air National Guard. It contains their analysis of how they will impact our community or 4 others.
Week of February 17, 2020
The extended/unedited version . . . Dane County quietly moving forward with redevelopment of the Alliant Energy Center and Madison is up to its knees in BRT. With hosts Brenda Konkel and WORT's Dylan Brogan.
City of Madison Mayor’s Schedule Week of 2/17/20
Items the mayor is meeting about this week, Performance Excellence, Public Market, Complete count, public health, water utility finances, Freedom Inc, Benjamin Olneck-Brown, police and more . . .
Madison School Board Primary Election Guide
I have updated the guide and here's what you need to know for Tuesday if you have not already voted!
Second Denial of County Board Open Records Request
Who decided what is in the final Dane County budget package that is presented and passed WITHOUT DISCUSSION? I'm going to find out, one way or the other. Looks like I'm gonna need lawyers, guns and money. (ok, no guns.)
Who is the County Board thinking about giving a raise to now?
"Constitutional Officers Compensation" has been on the Personnel and Finance Commmittee agenda for the last two meetings. What's it all about?
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead – 2/27/20
One meeting on Friday, and don't forget to vote in Tuesday's Primary election where the three candidates running for Kate Toews seat will be narrowed to two.
Dane County Week Ahead – 2/17/20
Plans for Alliant Energy Center plowing ahead, county board meets, active shooter training and more.
City of Madison Week Ahead – 2/17/20
Where should Downtown BRT go?, special Plan Commission meeting on policies, Surveillance report, poisons used in public housing, Visions and Canopy alcohol licenses, future of municipal golf and more.
Madison: Armed Guards in Public Housing on Agenda Tonight
Tonight the City of Madison's CDA (Community Development Authority) will decide if they will continue to have armed security guards patrolling their public housing units. Why do the security guards need guns?
Video: Warning, think before you eat Lake Monona and Starkweather Creek Fish
Only 1 meal (8 oz) of bluegill a week and the rest of the fish only each once a month. Don't touch the foam either. Other lakes haven't yet been tested, but will be.
Video: F-35s, PFAS, Truax and You – A Forum
In case you didn't brave the snowy weather on Sunday and missed the forum, here's the video for you and shorter clips if you want to skip around!
Week of Feb. 10, 2020
Coronavirus, alders social media rules and school district budget are among the items in this week's local government meetings.
City of Madison Finance Committee Recap 2/10/20
The committee asks questions about the Bus Rapid Transit Bus Route Study, Judge Doyle Square Consultant, Cross-fit Games closing Olin Boat launch and the 5-year Community Development plan.
City of Madison Mayor’s Schedule Week of 2/10/20
Digital Inclusion Summit, Team City Employee recognition, County Executive Joe Parisi, MMSD Interim Superintendent Jane Belore, "Human Services Team", Bloomburg Harvard class, Mayors Institute on City Design meeting and more.
George is back for more money…Judge Doyle Square money pit continues
$306,500 and counting. Since 2011 the city has been paying a consultant for this boondoggle that seems to be a nightmare that never ends.
First look at where our City of Madison wheel tax is going
During the budget discussion on the wheel tax, they kept talking about all the studies that would be done for BRT. Here's a look at the what is expected from the study about changing our bus routes to complement BRT.
Snow Emergency: City Plans to tow . . .
Here's the snow emergency info and the email telling downtown alders that they plan to tow if you get a ticket tonight and for the next few days.
F-16s will be flying during evening hours this week
Here's the notice from the Wisconsin Air National Guard with the times that they will be taking off or landing at the Dane County Airport.
Madison Areas Schools Week Ahead 2/10/20
More closed session meetings, operations work group meeting and City Education Committee meets.
Dane County Board Week Ahead – 2/10/20
Purchasing properties for parks and emergency management, smoking at Alliant Energy Center, coronavirus updates, Airport Commission talks PFAS and more.
Madison City Week Ahead 2/10/20
Madison Metro Network Study RFP, more consulting for Judge Doyle Square, Surveillance Report, Electric Vehicle Charging and AirBnB ordinances, Public Market, Judge Doyle Square and Hub II at Urban Design, dogs in parks, PFAS at Sewerage District, armed security guards at CDA housing, Education Committee meets and more!
Recap: So, who got elected to Dane County Board leadership positions?
Last night the county board met to fill the positions of 1st Vice Chair and 2nd Vice chair. Who won the elections?
What are Dane County’s Plans for Redistricting?
I was going to go to the Executive Committee tonight and listen in, but the meeting was cancelled. But then I got curious!
Still waiting for open records request regarding County Board Budget
Who decides what is in the Dane County Budget amendment that takes all the county board supervisor amendments to the budget, and some news ones and decides what is in, what is out and what gets modified? Don't you want to know?
MG&E wants “up to” $45M but can’t tell the Madison City Council why
So, the Madison City Council tried to get the answers out of Larry, Darryl and Darryl to no avail. The best answer is, they will tell us later when they figure it out. Here's the details! Or lack thereof.
What will the Madison City Council talk about tonight? (Updated)
Koval and Bus Rapid Transit resolutions will be withdrawn. Plastic straw ordinance, approving City Engineer and Director of Planning, Community and Economic Development, Performance Excellence presentation and more.
MG&E projects that require $65M are . . .
MG&E answers what projects they need $65M for. Prepare for disappointment in their answer. Council votes tonight.
Week of February 3
This week in local government: The Dane County boards support a union for UW nurses. Madison takes aim at robots on sidewalks. And the Madison school district puts pen to paper on a contract for its new superintendent.
City of Madison Mayor’s Schedule Week of 2/3/20
Lots of meetings with staff, meetings with former alder Barbara Vedder, Greater Madison Convention and Visitor's Bureau's Deb Archer and transportation, planning, engineering, fianance, sustainability and fire staff.
DELAYED: When is the Judge Doyle Square Parking Garage going to open?
It was supposed to be in December, then January . . . now it's postponed til June!! Along with other pieces of the project.
Where can you find the Madison School Board Minutes?
Short answer is maybe here, maybe there, maybe not. For some reason in 2016 or 2017 they stopped posting their minutes where you would expect to find them. Why?
Superintendent Contract Already Signed, So Why Vote Tonight?
Did Gloria Reyes, School Board President (1/24) and Nicki VanderMuelen, School Board Clerk (1/27) have authority to sign the employment agreement with the new School Board Superintendent Dr. Matthew Gutierrez?
City of Madison Council will NOT honor Retired Chief Koval on Tuesday
On Tuesday's agenda there is a resolution honoring former Chief Mike Koval. That resolution is now going to be "placed on file" - why?
PFAS Found: Will the City of Madison Shut Down Well 9?
Well 9 is one of the 3 wells that has the highest levels of PFAS in it according to the most recent well testing, but it is unlikely to be shut down like well 15. Here's why.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead 2/3/20
Approving the Superintendent contracts, Behavior Education Plan Update and K-5 reading materials review committee.
Dane County Week Ahead 2/3/20
County Board meeting Thursday, Redistricting, AirBnB ordinance at Public Health, presentation on Novel Coronavirus and more.
City of Madison Week Ahead 2/3/20
Public Safety Review Committee figuring out its role, prohibiting personal delivery devices on city sidewalks, borrowing $65M for MG&E, AirBnb ordinance and more.
Round Up – 1/31/20
PFAS, digital inclusion, f-35s, eviction clinic closed this week, youth homeless county, upcoming demolitions, snow plow updates and more!
What is the Madison City Council’s Plan for the Government Reform Report?
At the Common Council Executive Committee meeting council members discussed what to do with the report on changes to our government structure. Here's what they had to say.
Why does MG&E need the City to borrow $65M?
I was really hoping someone would ask questions at the finance committee Monday night, but they didn't. Perhaps they have memos and info the public can't see?
2019 City of Madison Annual Planning Division Report
Plan Commission was 6 hours Monday night, here's the small portion where they got a report on 2019 City of Madison Planning activities.
City of Madison Finance Committee Recap 1/27/20
Moving formerly confidential staff into the same job classifications as other staff now that there is no collective bargaining, workplans required in department and division head contracts and stormwater rates increasing 13%, not 10% as passed in the budget and how they will prioritize stormwater/flooding projects.
Week of January 27th, 2020
Dane County will get the latest design plans for the new jail. The city of Madison considers hiring new department heads and a lot of new housing units. And the Madison school board meets in closed session again, this time to discuss expected litigation.
City of Madison Mayor’s Schedule Week of 1/27/20
Lots of meetings with staff, meetings with the YWCA and Catholic Charities. Meeting with Joe Parisi (County Executive). A couple transportation meetings plus parks, engineering, public health, senior center, community development and more. Oh, and don't forget Terrace Town!
What’s in the Oscar Mayer Development Plan?
On Friday the City released a new Oscar Mayer Development Plan and they will be holding a public meeting on Thursday, January 30th at 6pm. (910 Oscar at OM Station)
City of Madison to ticket and tow Monday and Tuesday!
If you live in one of those areas where parking is restricted on one side of the street for a couple hours every week - you've been warned. While they sporadically ticket, and they hardly ever tow, that will not be the case this week!
What is the Dane County doing to clean up PFAS at the County Airport?
Here's what the County Attorney had to say to the Lakes and Watershed Commission last Thursday. They have complied with all the DNR requests. But can they do more?
Dane County/Madison Public Health on PFAS & Fish Advisories
Don't eat fish from Lake Monona or Starkweather Creek more than once a month, bluegills can be eaten once a week. See what else the public health department has to say!
Pierre Sprey on the F-35 Boondoggle (Video)
F-35s blow up if they get hit by lightening? They can't fly if the sun is out and its too hot? They won't be a defense for the midwest, they can only fly short distances without being refueled and more.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead – 1/27/20
Renaming Glendale, Badger Rock Middle School Charter, closed session for legal advice on potential litigation, referendum planning, 2020-2021 budget timeline and more.
Dane County Week Ahead – 1/27/20
Purchasing more land, Alliant Energy Center agreements, purchasing property in Fitchburg for County Emergency Management, Jail Design Presentation, Human Services Board presentation to Health and Human Needs, Health Department Intergovernmental agreement and more.
City of Madison Week Ahead – 1/27/20
Eliminating the Committee on the Environment, Borrowing for MG&E, new Planning, Community and Economic Director, Historic Preservation Plan, Board of Health Intergovernmental Agreement, busy Urban Design Agenda, golf and more!
Madison Plans to Tow Cars
Bummed is what you are when you go out to your car and it's been towed . . . don't be bummed.
Round Up 1/23/20
Didja miss me? 3 trips to the ER and 2 admissions, but I'm back! Here's a round up of a bunch of random that I didn't cover in the past week.
Natural Gas Leak at Former Downtown MATC Campus
Please avoid the area of Johnson, Dayton, North Carroll and Wisconsin Ave. in downtown Madison.
Homeless? No Dane County services for you!
Ugh. Well, some services yes, some no. Finally, the CCS program is going to do a one-year trial and will not require a "place of fixed habitation" to be able to get case management and substance abuse services.
What will the Madison City Council talk about tonight? (Updated)
Truly you never know! But, this is what they have picked out in advance - Ad Hoc Police Policy and Urban Forestry Report. They will also likely talk about items people show up to speak about.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead – Committee Agendas
Nuestro Mundo Board Meeting and Badger Rock Middle School Governance Council Meeting this week.
Dane County Week Ahead – Committee Agendas
A look on what's on the Dane County committee agendas this week! PFAS updates at Lakes and Watershed meeting, jail deflection and diversion report, county board meeting and more.
City of Madison Week Ahead – Committee Agendas
What's next with the Structure of City Government report, 2021 budget process, AirBnB ordinance, Ad hoc Police Policy, employee survey and Urban Forestry reports at council meeting, plastic straw ordinance and more this week.
City of Madison Workplace Climate Survey Report
Seems like we have a lot more work to do on gender equity. The report is a very interesting read. There was even a comment about me/the mayor in there! Sigh.
Take Action: Trump trying to undo Fair Housing laws
Comment due to the federal government by March 16 - see below from the National Low Income Housing Coalition to get more info and submit comments. Consider commenting today.
Defensive: Fiscal Note on Government Changes
Seems the finance department is feeling a little defensive about criticisms of their fiscal note on the Task Force on Government Structure Report.
Round Up
Hello world! Here's a little round up of things that have come up in the last week you may be interested in - all local government or community related.
Denied: Where did the final county budget package come from?
So, after waiting 64 days for a response I was informed that my open records request was denied. So I wrote a new one! I'm determined to find out who makes the final budget approved with little to no discussion or debate.
Madison Snow Emergency Cancelled
It's time to complain about the cities snow plowing strategy . . . the city unpredictable then blames the people who park downtown.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead 1/13/20
Big Week - the candidates who are finalists for the Superintendent are in town and there are public meetings Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, nearly everything else is behind closed doors.
Dane County Week Ahead 1/13/20
Lame duck session in effect, last week the full county board cancelled their meeting, this week Public Protection and Judiciary and no agenda for Health and Human Needs.
City of Madison Week Ahead 1/13/20
Highlights for this week include Public Market Financing Update, Truman Olson Update, Urban Design (Exact Sciences, LaFollette H.S, & Children's Museum, ALRC (Visions, Garver, Canopy) and the future of golf.
Surprise! A School Board Retreat Tomorrow!
Wasn't in the week ahead because it wasn't posted until Wednesday of this week. And I didn't notice til TJ Mertz pointed it out to me this morning. Thanks TJ!!!
Engage Dane: #irony
More illegal meetings? Some county board members, not a committee with open meetings, but a group appointed by Chair Sharon Corrigan came up with a report on how to increase public engagement, without engaging the public. Or the rest of the county board. Who even knows about the report?
No response from Dane County to my open records requests
So, I'm trying to figure out how the Personnel and Finance Committee hears a whole bunch of information about all kinds of budget amendments then goes away and comes back with a tidy package exactly balanced and has no discussion. Where is that discussion happening?
What Does the Dane County Zoo Commission Do?
I bet they were really busy during this time that the County Executive and the Zoological Society were fighting over $8 million dollars and the sheriff was investigating the theft! Not. So who does make decisions about the Zoo?
County Board vs. County Executive spat
Why does the county board need to hire an outside expert? The county board is planning to hire Pines Bach LLP as a consultant for $15,000 and if things can't be solved they will go to the Wisconsin Attorney General as a "neutral arbiter."
Still time to file to run for District 8 alder!
Doh! I should have realized this when I was looking at the files yesterday - deadline extended til Friday at 5:00.
City Towing Policy? Or retaliation?
Ok - so when cars on Willy Street are towed because they parked in the overflow lane the city tows their car around the block. Yesterday, my car was towed (long story) and they towed it 1.5 miles from Wilson St. by the Municipal Building to Park St. & W. Wash. Is that normal?
Meet the Local Government Spring Candidates (Updated x 2)
1 person on the ballot for City Alder District 8
6 school board candidates vying for 3 seats with 1 unopposed and 2 seats contested, including a primary
24 current county board supervisors unopposed, 8 new supervisors will walk on without having to win a contested election, 3 of the 11 vacated seats have races and 2 incumbents are opposed.
What will the Madison City Council talk about tonight?
The Madison City Council is expected to pass everything as noted on the agenda in one big "consent agenda" motion, except for items noted below, anything an alder separates at the meeting or items the public shows up to speak on.
Week of January 6th, 2020
Dane County is getting feedback on how it provides mental health services, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway is talking transit and the search for a new superintendent for the Madison public schools continues.
Dane County meetings you won’t find on line
Sigh. There is a huge problem with the way I do the "county week ahead". I only include meetings available electronically on-line . . . but there is a whole other set of meetings that don't show up unless you drive to the city-county building and look at the bulletin board.
Mayor Rhodes Conway: MetroForward
Monday night at the Transportation Planning and Policy Board, the agenda said that they mayor would be doing a presentation on Metro Forward - but she started off by saying that she wasn't doing a presentation and that she wasn't only going to speak to Metro Forward. Here's what she had to say - spoiler alert - its all over the place and not much about MetroForward.
Absurd Fiscal Note on Government Reform
I hope the $3M price tag assigned to the Task Force on Government Structure Report doesn't prevent the easy and doable things from happening, and soon!
Who Governs Dane County and Madison Public Health Department?
The County Board and City Council both pass the department budget, and from time to time you see ordinances changes, but who is in charge the rest of the year? Looks like no one.
How Does Madison Rank in Criminalizing Homelessness?
Well, according to the Housing Not Handcuff's report - not good, not the worst. However, I believe they missed a few of our ordinances and we rank worse than the report shows. The City-County Homeless Committee will be reviewing this report tonight.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead 1/6/20
Instruction Work Group hears Community Schools Update, Naming Committee, K-5 Reading Materials and City Education Committees meet.
County Week Ahead 1/6/20
County Board meeting cancelled, public hearing on gaps in mental health and AODA treatment, parks plans and more.
City Week Ahead 1/6/20
Back to reality! A couple dozen meetings this week including council meeting (Edgewood), Mayor talking about MetroForward, criminalization of homelessness, analyzing city crash reports, park master plans and more.
Local Government Guide is Back!
This work was initially done by myself, Brenda Konkel, for Progressive Dane about 3 years ago. Technical difficulties happened and over the past three years I continued some of the work here at Forward Lookout. I'm in the process of merging the work and expanding the guide. Let me know what you think!
How Much is in Candidate Campaign Warchests?
I took a look at what people had in their campaign accounts coming in to the 2020 Spring Elections for Madison City Council, Madison School Board and Dane County Board of Supervisors - for those who had campaign accounts in 2019. Here's what I found.
Madison/Dane County/School Board Hide Behind Open Meetings Laws?
So, nothing is worse than when public officials use open meetings laws to thwart public information. I was reminded about how they did that with the Cap Times during the F-35s debate. See what I found in my open records request.
Madison School Board Illegal Meetings
Yesterday i blogged about illegal County Board meetings. Today, Madison School Board.
17 Illegal Dane County Board Meetings in 2019?
Command central of the county board meets in a "Pre-Board Meeting Chairs Meeting" on Thursday's at 3:30 a week before each board meeting. I'm told there are no agendas or minutes of these meetings. So, what do they talk about?
Madison and Dane County Week Ahead
There are two local government meetings this week at the City of Madison, Madison School Board and Dane County Board . . . that we know of.
2 more new Madison housing reports
We seem to be awash in housing reports, I have one additional one to blog about as well. Here's the 2 latest reports that came out today.
Madison Area Round Up
A round up of things you may be missing around the holidays. Not much going on with local Madison, Dane County and School Board government, but here's a few things that may be of interest.
Catching Up: Madison Historic Preservation Plan
Madison's Historic Preservation Plan is near completion, so what? Let's find out. I'm catching up, you can follow along!
New Madison Police Policies for Comment
9 more polices to be commented on over the holidays, deadline January 6th when many people are just returning to work.
Catching Up: Madison Use of Surveillance Technology
For nearly 2 years a committee has been quietly working on new rules for the City of Madison's use of tools to watch and gather data about you. What have they come up with?
Dane County Board Recap
From Thursday night - the brief, final meeting of the year where they approve an additional $11M for jail consulting services, allow refugees in Dane County, mental health access center and more.
No Week Ahead!
Enjoy the government meeting free holiday week! No city, county or school board meetings scheduled for next week!
How many new faces will we see on the county board?
9 people have officially stepped down, 2 more seem extremely likely. 2 incumbents have challengers, could be up to 13 of 37 new faces as of now!
Refugees welcome in Dane County (Updated: And WI!)
Madison, WI - Dane County Board telling County Executive Joe Parisi to "offer consent to initial refugee resettlement" to comply with Presidential Executive Order.
Dane County Jail Consultants to get 197% Increase in Contracts
Madison, WI - $11M increase. Extended project timeline, revisions to plans, different sub-consultants added to the cost. A parting gift from 11 (or more?) outgoing supervisors.
Process to Review Madison Police Operating Procedures
In September the Madison Police Department started posting policies for review on their website. Now they have posted a policy on how procedures will be reviewed annually, every other year or every three years.
Mapping Prejudice in Dane County?
Madison, WI - Tonight the County's Zoning and Land Regulation is going to be looking at if Dane County (including Madison) could do a project similar to what Hennepin County is doing - mapping structural racism in housing through deed restrictions. Check out what they found!
Week of December 16th
Madison, WI - A brief rundown of the week ahead for City, County and School Board meetings covered on Forward Lookout in podcast format.
Homeless Persons Cannot Be Punished for Sleeping in Absence of Alternatives!
What does this mean for Madison? Supreme court denied reviewing the case that upheld Martin v. Boise! Now what?
Madison Fire Department Switches to PFAS-free Foam!
As the chair of the Public Safety Review Committee I just sent an email asking for an update about this! So glad the Fire Department is on top of these things!
Madison Voters: Check Your Voter Registration! (Updated)
Alders were asked to help spread the word. As of last Friday you may have been taken off the voter registration lists.
Which Madison Parks strategies/policies should be priorities in 2020
The Parks Long Range Planning Committee is meeting on Wednesday to look at what policies they should work on in 2020. What would you like to see changed?
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead
Madison, WI - Meetings for the MMSD that is mostly Madison, but the school district boundaries are different than city boundaries. 8 meetings! Interviewing superintendent candidates, purchasing property, employee discipline matters, personalized pathways report, school naming and more.
Dane County Week Ahead
Madison, WI - Dane County meetings about mapping prejudice, racial disparities in the criminal justice system, gaps in the behavioral health system, consent to receive refugees in Dane County, Universal Access Call Center and more.
Madison City Week Ahead
Madison, WI - Arts and Rallies in Madison Parks, Visions/Silk Exotic East Gentleman's Club licenses, final (?) Historic Preservation and Urban Forestry Plans, Housing Snapshot presentation and meaty Tenant-Landlord agenda (if they meet).
Madison adds highest percent of police of WI cities
A new report out shows in the past 10 years (2008-2018) Madison added 10.6% more officers, the highest in the state.
CDA to “Dispose” of 32 units of Scattered Site Public Housing
CDA has big plans for scattered site public housing, Straubel Court and the Triangle. They are starting with the Scattered Site housing with a resolution on their agenda today.
Armed Security Guards in Madison Public Housing?
On Thursday, CDA will consider authorizing armed security guards in Madison's Public Housing. Would you want armed security guards roaming the hallways of your home?
Will TIF Solve Financial Issues with Annexation of the Town of Madison?
Thursday the TIF Review Committee is meeting and they will be hearing a presentation from staff about how TIF could be used in South Madison to solve challenges with the annexation of the Town of Madison.
What Should the Madison Public Safety Committee Work On?
Like the Education Committee, the Public Safety Review Committee is determining what to focus on in the next year? What would you say?
Brief Madison Plan Commission Recap
Edgewood campus master plan repeal denied, Park St. grocery lot rezoned, Reach Dane Daycare approved, Oscar Mayer Land division, alcohol zoning overlay ordinance approved and more.
No one running for some seats on School Board and County Board
41 seats up for elections, 2 are contested and 9 have no one filing anything. 2 people officially on the ballot so far. Papers due January 7th - 29 more days. Media silence, so who even knows they should be thinking about running?
Week of December 9th
Dylan and Brenda talk crap. Literally. Thanks to Dylan for hosting, editing when necessary and generally making me sound good! Listen in to find out about the week ahead.
Input Needed for New Madison Police Procedures
There are 7 new Madison Police Department "Standard Operating Procedures" that are open for comment and review right now. Check them out!
Trumps Appointment of Robert Marbut will destroy US Homeless Policies
Madison, WI - Good grief! Our policies around homelessness were already in need of reform, but appointing this man who wants to hide homeless people, ban feeding them and criminalize homelessness to lead the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness is a nightmare. See what you can do ASAP.
What should the Madison Education Committee work on?
Officially, this is the City of Madison Committee, but it has Alders, Dane County Board Supervisors and School Board members along with Mayor and School Superintendent reps. It could be an impactful group! They voted to change the name to City, County, Schools Collaborative Committee (CCSCC). They were almost convinced to disband, but were re-energized with new members after the elections last spring and are discussing what they should be working on.
Companies Doing Business with Madison Failed to File Affirmative Action Reports
There's 30 companies doing $???? business with the City of Madison that were served Cure Default Notices for failing to submit approved Affirmative Action Plans. Some of them should surprise you
Which Madison Police Officers Are Getting Promotions?
Look who's getting promoted where - every year there is a shuffle as police get the Madison police staff get different assignments, but this year, it seems like a lot more changes going on.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead
Madison, WI - Superintendent search announcement and closed session meeting, purchasing properties (Regent St, Holtzman Rd), TIF guidance, Naming Committee for Glendale Elementary, City committee meeting mission and priorities and more.
Dane County Week Ahead
Dane County committee meetings this week include discussions about equity plans, dredging, behavioral health call center and the Criminal Justice Council meeting.
Madison City Week Ahead
Madison, WI city council committee meetings this week. Madison Equitable Workforce Plan, Edgewood, rezoning 1402 S. Park St (future grocery), Overture contract, stormwater ordinance revisions, campus building heights, design of new jail, Public Safety Review Committee and Education Committee priorities, South Madison TIF, Orchard Ridge Park Master plan, CDA repositioning public housing and armed security guards, surveillance committee report and much more.
Madison Public Market Updates
Madison, WI - This is the update for the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2019. It goes into detail on the capital financing plan, ownership structure, design, bidding and construction process and land use and construction approvals. It's getting closer to being real after all these years! But there is a lot to be done before March 2020.
Round Up for Madison and More – Fri 12/6/19
Madison, WI - The long night homeless memorial, police survey, census update, voter "mover" notice, new fair housing app, parks updates and more!
Common Council Recap
A LOT happened on this agenda, but there was virtually no discussion of any substantive issues in the 1 hour and 10 minute meeting. Many lobbyists attended and registered to support their items.
Public Health Madison & Dane County Immunization Policy Position Statement
Tonight Public Health Board for Madison and Dane County will be considering the following position statement and making the following recommendations:
Urban Forestry Task Force Recommendations
Seems like this report has been going on forever and bouncing around from agenda to agenda. Today at noon they will continue discussing. Here's what they're looking at now.
Transportation Policy and Planning Board Recap
No to ordinance to save Green Cab $4,000 to avoid reapplying for license, wheel tax revocation if RTAs are again allowed and beltline shoulder usage. Complete streets discussion, BRT, a parking study the staff team turned into a Transportation Demand Management study and more.
What Will the Council Talk About Tonight? (Updated)
Nothing? Here's the consent agenda an no alders have pulled any items to be discussed tonight. McKinney, Carter and Kemble will all be absent.
If you had half a million dollars to spend on affordable housing . ....
Would you give it to Salvation Army or Judge Doyle Square? Tonight, both projects are on the council agenda to get funding from the affordable housing fund. Which is a better deal?
Cats and Dogs Oh My!
Do you register your cat, or dog? Or bike for that matter? Cat fees going up, "dog license tax" going up! Fees and taxes going up, up, up as the city tries to stay under the state imposed levy limits.
Forward Lookout on WORT
The impact of F-35s on affordable housing, Urban Forestry fee going up and Madison elementary name change, all these agenda items and more with Forward Lookout's Brenda Konkel and Dylan Brogan.
Neighbor’s Appeal of Salvation Army Plan Commission Approval to Be Denied (Updated)
Neighbors fail to have have sufficient signatures for the appeal of the conditional use for the Salvation Army.
Beltline Shoulder Usage a Racial Equity Issue? (Updated)
Here's the city staff report on Beltline shoulder usage that will be discussed at the Transportation Policy and Planning Board tonight at 5:00. I was surprised by the staff spin on the issue.
Catching Up: What Happens When Town of Madison Goes Away
In October 2022, how will Madison and Fitchburg split the Town of Madison's assets? What will happen to their employees? How does this work with redistricting? Are the town's properties under assessed and what happens with the city's higher tax rates? How will we give Town residents the same level of service when we won't get levy increases sufficient to do the work? So many questions!
Time to Start Circulating Nomination Papers!
Today is the day that candidates for County Board (37 Seats!), School Board (3 seats) and City Council (1 seat) can start circulating nomination papers . . . but shockingly few have filed paperwork to allow them to begin!
Round Up Saturday 11/30/19
Looks like its time to clean out my inbox! Here's some things you might find of use! Parks, Bikes, Buses, Events, MPD survey, downtown neighborhood news and more.
Video from No F-35s Black Friday Protest at Capitol
Music (Mary Gaines and Chris Wagoner), great speakers (Vicki Berenson, Brian Benford, Angela Jenkins, Jesse Pycha-Holst, Brandi Grayson and Rebecca Kemble) and more music (Lou and Peter Berryman)!
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead
Another closed session, renaming Glendale after Virginia Henderson, Badger Rock Charter Renewal and more.
County Week Ahead
F-35s impact on housing, Board of Health Immunization policy, lake management quarterly report, creating universal access center and more.
City Week Ahead
Repealing the Wheel Tax if RTA can be created, Beltline proposal, complete streets, downtown BRT, F-35s impact on housing, stormwater ordinance changes, Council Meeting (Salvation Army and Judge Doyle Square Affordable Housing funds, Judge Doyle Square agreement, Truman Olson developer chosen, Tree Tax, appeal of demolition by neglect at 121 Langdon, plastic straws ordinance, water utility bonds and Visions liquor license) and more!
Thankful: A Tiny Step Towards Housing (formerly) Homeless Individuals
Recently Occupy Madison held a 5 year anniversary party for the Occupy Madison Tiny House Village - and it was a reminder that the hard work and perseverance was so worth it. Here's a brief look at the event and how you can help.
Black Friday No F35s Protest at the Capital
Music and speakers noon - 1, march at 1:00. Here's the details and other Safe Skies Clean Water updates.
Plan Commission Recap
MMSD projects requiring Plan Commission approval if referenda passes and capital view height discussions. Edgewood, rezoning Truman Olson and 636 W. Wash at 12/9 meeting.
Finance Committee Recap
Beyond the headlines. New opioid grant and Addiction Resource Police Officer position, Urban Forestry Special Charge (Tree Tax), continued leaf pick up until the weather prevents them from collecting leaves, year end budget adjustments ($2M to Fire, $1M to Police), Judge Doyle Square agreement (land use application in Jan and should sail through the neighborhood, garage opens 2/1, construction starts 6/1) and Truman Olson developer chosen. About a half a dozen paid lobbyists showed up along with union workers and people seeking affordable housing and other community priorities in the Truman Olson development.
City Bond Ratings “Return to Stable Outlook”
I believe Madison has enjoyed a Aaa Bond rating as long as I've been paying attention - 25+ years. Here's the latest for city, sewer, water and CDA.
Week of Nov. 25, 2019
Tom Powell hosts Brenda Konkel from Forward Lookout on WORT-FM 89.9 Community Radio for a look at city, county and school board meetings this week.
Dane County Mental Health Report
Only the State Journal reported on this special meeting of the Dane County Board where they heard the results of the mental health study. Here's the rest of the details of that meeting including recommendations and exploring what those recommendations mean for Dane County.
Truman Olson Development Conditions and Back Up Plan
While the City is choosing to negotiate with Rule Enterprises, there are some pretty big conditions on final approval as well as choosing Gorman Companies as the back up plan.
Which City Departments Stuck with their Budgets?
Every year there are "year end adjustments" to the City budget. And they spend the last of the "contingent reserve" which is usually a little over $1M that they set aside for unbudgeted emergencies. Lets see who went over budget this year and why . . . (psst, police ($1M) and fire ($2M) get more money as per usual)
Tree Tax Going Up, Up, Up
With state imposed levy limits local governments are forced to find new ways to raise taxes. This year's debate was about the Wheel Tax, but look what's been happening with the Tree Tax.
County Board Supervisors Urge Appeal in Cardinal-Hickory Line Proposal
County is dragging its feet in filing an appeal, County Board members urge action before appeal deadline of December 16th.
Madison Area Schools Week Ahead
2 meetings, one open session, one closed.
County Week Ahead
4, er, 3 or 2? meetings - Public Works and Zoning.
City Week Ahead
5 meetings. Or? More? Funding for affordable housing (Judge Doyle Square & Salvation Army), negotiating team for Truman Olson, Judge Doyle Square agreement and more.
Dane County Board Recap
Compromise reached (?) on mental health and substance abuse funding so no veto override, lawsuit (?) over Cardinal-Hickory line and routine items.
Who’s Running in Spring Elections?
41 seats are available for County Board, Madison School Board and City Council. People can start circulating nomination papers in 9 days! Are you ready?
Final Recommendations on Changes to City Government
Tonight the committee is going to finalize their recommendations and report to the Common Council, here's what they are recommending! It's a quick read in list format.
Common Council Executive Committee Recap
Short half hour meeting. Vision Zero, Transportation Studies, Independent Monitor, Recommendations on Government Structure, budget process for next year and more.
Round Up, Tuesday, 11/19/19
A bit overdue, but here's what I've got!
What is the Council Talking About . . . Right Now?
Ugh, I'm hopelessly behind with my latest computer woes (my home computer won't be back until Saturday) making everything twice as difficult at the moment . . . but here's the consent agenda for tonight! For the meeting that started already.
Week of Nov. 18, 2019
Chali Pittman hosts Brenda Konkel from Forward Lookout Week Ahead on WORT-FM 89.9 Community Radio for a look at city and county meetings this week.
County Executive Signs Budget, Vetoes What?
On November 15th the County Executive sent out a press release saying he signed the 2020 Budget. However, the County Board Agenda is being amended to include a veto over-ride. Say what?
County Week Ahead
Computer woes slowed me down, so I missed 2 meetings this week, but there are 17 more! Including County Board meeting this week.
City Week Ahead
Sorry this is late. Technology is awesome, until it isn't. 4 meetings are over, but don't worry, there are 31 more left for this week, including a council meeting tonight.
Catching Up: Plans to Redevelop East and West Towne Areas
This is from the Plan Commission Monday night, and was an amendment during the Finance Committee Budget meeting. Here's what the city plans to do.
Council Budget Meeting Recap – Night 2 Capital Budget (Amdmts 7 – 12)
This is the last amendments to the Capital Budget (Reindahl Library, Hartmeyer property, Vision Zero, traffic signal), the vote on the entire capital budget and the setting the levy with lots of thank you.
Council Budget Meeting Recap – Night 2 Capital Budget (Amdmts 1 – 6)
Purchasing an ambulance, affordable housing fund and quiet zones.
Council Budget Meeting Recap, Night 2 Operating Budget
Independent Auditor survives, FIC gets their funding and the rest of the operating amendments are here.
Common Council Budget Recap – Night One, Part Two
This is the police officer discussion and the approximately last 2 hours of the meeting. Fear and perception vs. fact and we need data people can use to decide how many police we need.
City Council Budget Recap – Night One, Part One
A brief summer of roughly the first 4 hours - public input and 9th ambulance, with related budget cuts including the independent auditor (also amendment 4)
Homeless Bills Stalled in Legislature til January
Here is the update from the Wisconsin Coalition Against Homelessness. This is an initiative both the city and county have given a couple thousands of dollars a year to.
Finance Committee Recap
Beyond the headlines. Housing Initiates job going away, city to negotiate removing concrete barriers blocking bike path, Judge Doyle Square discussion and 3rd Quarter Budget updates, which departments are going over their budget and why?
Big Dane County Budget Night Meeting!
County Board budget night lasted less than an hour . . . no discussion on the capital budget. Limited discussion on two amendments to the operating budget totalling $2,480. No public input. But plenty of speecifying.
2 Changes in City Budget Process
Operating Budget will be considered first and a portion of the budget will require a two-third vote to violate budgeting policies.
Let’s Make Data Driven Decisions on Police
Do we really need more officers? Or do we need police officers to stick with policing activities and find resources for other needed services? Greg Gelembuik spells it out for us, with data!
Round Up – Monday, 11/11/19
Snow plowing updates, F-35 updates, Judge Doyle Square neighborhood meeting, upcoming events and neighborhood meetings and more!
Feedback on $315M Capital and $36M Operating School Referenda
So far there is either limited feedback or support according to the staff report. It would raise taxes by an average of $69/year for a homeowner for Capital and $66/year for Operating Budget.
Final Vote on County Budget Monday
Well, they have meetings scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, but I'll eat my hat (and my scarf and gloves) if they aren't done Monday.
No Public Input on Edgewood at Plan Commission?
Wow. They haven't had public input since August but the public hearing has been closed. It's unconscionable that Plan Commission wouldn't re-open the public hearing and allow public input.
Final Negotiation on Judge Doyle Square Housing?
On Monday, the Finance Committee will go into closed session to determine if they will accept the final negotiations of the staff team. Here's the information that is avaialble to the public.