Budget Night One: Public Testimony (Updated – Final)

November 14, 2007 12:20 pm

Last night, we heard 5 hours of public testimony on the budget, and didn’t vote on one single item. We have 17 Capital Budget Amendments and 55 Operating Budget Amendments to cover in the next two nights. It’s questionable if we’ll be able to do it, but we’ll dive right in tonight at 7:00 in Room 201 of the City County Building. Here’s the run down on the meeting last night.

We started about 10 minutes late, all alders were here except Alder Palm who was being elected President of a local non-profit. The Mayor announced that we would be done by 11 or whenever the public testimony ended, whichever was later. He informed people that they have 5 minutes on the Capital Budget and 5 minutes on Operating Budget.

I just have to say, I am impressed with the number of folks that were willing to stand up in front of over 100 to 150 people to tell us what is so very important to them. It’s impressive! Also, important to note, but you won’t be able to see here on my blog, is that there were a notable number of people of color who showed up to speak to us. We don’t often get that so it was good to see.

Here’s a flavor of the testimony. I have 12 pages of notes, but I’m afraid that I can’t do the speakers justice. There was so much good testimony and my notes are kind of hit and miss depending upon what else was going on in the room. We started with taking testimony from those who needed to leave early first. That testimony was as follows:

Support increased hours for South Madison Branch Library, support funding the Weed and Seed Coordinator for the last quarter of the year and opposed cutting planning council funding.
Support MAP program and the Weed and Seed Coordinator – talked about youth court program in the neighborhood and how it is working well.
Against cut of the neighborhood planning council. She has worked with EINPC to help her grow as a leader.
A man from Operation Welcome Home. For Amendment #10 to cut 12 police pending the police staffing report and a report from the comptroller. Wants to see police work with people more often. Supported Amendment 22 for additional homeless outreach workers. He had been homeless for 15 years. In support of number 33, for eviction prevention and housing entry funds.
A member of Groundwork and Operation Welcome Home. In support of homeless programs that treat people with dignity and respect. Spoke in support of homeless outreach workers, eviction prevention and housing entry funds (security deposit and first month’s rent) as well as the bus tickets for people looking for jobs.
Woman who works with Freedom Inc, Groundwork and Operation Welcome Home who was in support of cutting 12 police, having the police report more information, homeless outreach workers, eviction prevention funds and bus tickets for the homeless. She addressed the need to talk about racism in our city and the need to provide support and options to people to prevent crime. We’re at a critical point – what will happen if we don’t have options for people. When we talk about public safety, we also have to talk about options for people.
Woman from Operation Welcome Home and Madison Environmental Justice Organization. She spoke in support of homeless outreach workers, eviction prevention and housing re-entry funds and bus tickets to help homeless find jobs and housing. Said we need to connect people to resources that help them help themselves. Please support their efforts be self reliant.
A homeless man who said he has an income, but no place to stay. In support of homeless outreach workers, eviction prevention and housing reentry costs. He expressed concerns about police profiling. He said he had gotten 4 tickets in the last 4 days. He said we don’t need more police, we need more funds to help the homeless. He has been homeless for 6 years and said “I’m not asking you to hand me anything” and “I just need a helping hand.”
Another homeless man from Operation Welcome home. In support of cutting 12 police, the reporting from the police, homeless outreach workers, eviction prevention and reentry funds as well as the bus tickets to help people find jobs. He said that Mayor Dave told them in a meeting that “It’s been a long standing policy of the city that we know we have a homeless problem but we are not recognizing homeless people” so he asked “Why do we need to be the invisible people” . He noted that he was not asking us to give him what we have, that he just wants an opportunity.
A MMSD social worker for 25 years, now working at Jefferson Middle School with several of his kids standing behind him, asked not to cut afterschool and summer youth programs for Wisconsin Youth Company. He noted most of the kids that attend the programs are low income and kids of color. He also noted that we lead the nation in incarcerating people of color and that one way to intervene is to create programs for kids to go to after school. He supported more police, but he also asked to help keep these kids out of jail.
Another homeless man spoke in support of homeless outreach workers, eviction prevention and housing entry funds as well as the bus tickets to help people find jobs and housing. He reminded us that the shelter only lets them stay there for 60 days per year and he noted that he just needs a job and somewhere to go.
A woman spoke in support of the MAP program. Also in support of Weed and Seed funding. Noted that she had also been homeless and without these programs, she would have no where to go. She said that with these programs “I have got my mind back.”
The woman who runs the MAP program asked her students to stand up, there were about 20 people there. She talked about the details of the program and the 55 people who have graduated from 5 classes that are now in classes or full and part-time employment. She said the program helped take 7 drug dealers off the street. She said just like people believed in us when we ran for office, this program provides the same thing for their students. She said the program “Helps people from all over the city to change their lives. “
A man who was in the MAP program said hesees a chain reaction, if no support of the youth, then they end up homeless and with no job. Knowledge is the key to success. And he wants to work to make sure he is not homeless. There should be a MAP program in all parts of Madison.
Another MAP program talked about the positive impact of the program. He saw the program as a way to bridge cultural differences as people talk about struggles and successes.
Another MAP program student. She said that “People took risks with me” and as a result she got stable employment, got involved in the neighborhood and works with the neighborhood association and the JFF office and volunteer at the day care centers of her grandchildren. She noted that now her daughter will also be going to the MAP program.
A woman spoke against cutting the sister city programs.
The next person was another MAP student who was really nervous about speaking. She got lots of encouragement. Including Alder Brandon suggesting that she should picture the Mayor naked. After the laughter, she told us that she was the youngest member of MAP at age 17. She told us the class gave her alot of skills and it was helping with her writing and vocabulary so she could go to college. She talked about learning 10 new words every day.
Another MAP students told us about her 10 words she learned every day and how she used some of her new words when speaking with the owner of the store she worked at and how nervous she was when her boss asked her opinion about something. She noted that she later got a promotion.

That was the end of the “early testimony” for those who had to leave early. Many of the homeless people had to leave so they made it back to the shelter on time before they stopped letting people in the shelter for the night. It is worth noting that of all those speakers, only 4 were not people of color. At this point, the room was crowded with people waiting to speak and all the chairs were filled and about 8 – 10 people were sitting on the floor of the Council chambers.

CAPITAL BUDGET

Speaker spoke in support of cutting money for tasers and rifles. She also supported cutting the police and the additional reporting requirements in amendments 9 – 15. She quoted the Police Chief in the Capital Hues reminding us that crimes are down 4.5% in first half of 2007 and that we are safer than 30 years ago, when there were more crimes. She asked us to get away from the politics of fear. She was disappointed that the best she could do was support cutting 12, implying we should have cut more police. She said the proposal to hire 30 officers were “irresponsible” because we were using the one time TIF windfall money to for 30 expensive new hires. She asked how will we pay for them in 2, 5 or 10 years. She reminded us that the best way to reduce crime is to uplift people out of poverty and that those programs are a fraction of a cost of the police. She noted that the MAP program is asking for 25,000, not millions. She asked us to cut the police so she didn’t need to run for Mayor next time around.
He spoke against loaning the Mallards $1.2M and in favor of police amendments 9 – 15. He wanted to know why are we helping the Mallards when we don’t have enough money to run the city. He asked why we had $1.2M for a “certain group of people”. He thought sports should support themselves. He also noted that we have too many police, we have not only City police, but also police from Sheriff, Capital, UW and many other jursidictions. He spoke about his concerns about militarization of the police and use of force for minor incidents. He reminded us that tasers are not things that will harm people, they will kill people. He also reminded us that the people most hurt by more police are the minority, the poor and the mentally ill and that the police have recently shot two mentally ill people. He said sometimes, when you add police you don’t make the streets safer, sometimes you do the opposite.
Phil Salkin, the lobbyist for the REALTORS spoke in opposition to delaying $1.44M to remodel the Municipal Building to make it easier for developers to interact with the city. It’s called the “one stop shop“. He said it would help with affordable housing, but it wasn’t the whole answer, because time is money.
Delora Newton, lobbyist for the Chamber of Commerce also opposed delaying the one stop shop. She noted that while the reorganization of this department was up in the air, if we supported amendment 31, then we could support this remodeling moving forward because it will cost more the longer we wait.
Susan Schmitz, lobbyist for Downtown Madison Inc supported Delora’s comments in opposition to cutting the one stop shop. She also praised people for their work on amendment 31 in the operating budget.
The guy from the Mallards spoke in opposition to cutting the $1.2M loan to the Mallards. He explained that when the city decided to put money into fixing the bleachers, they decided to suggest a much bigger project which would rotate the field and add parking. The total project would cost $4M. He said something funny about “they city has used the word loan” but he didn’t see it that way. He thought we would get our money back through the leasing of the land to the Mallards and that we would recoup 3/4 of the amount of money we put in to the project and would own it in the end.
The next person testified in support of Jobs with a Future, additional childcare assistance to get 10 more kids off the waiting list, Girl Neighborhood Programs, funding for the Rape Crisis Center, the MAP program, the bus tickets for people to find jobs and increasing the library hours for S Madison and the Hawthorne Library. She spoke against cutting youth programs for Southwest Madison and the money to get kids from Darbo to activities as well as after school and summer programs. She also opposed cuts to the childcare stabilization grants, youth integration programs and Latino Childcare program. She questioned why we would remove funding for childcare just to fund the police. She also opposed cutting the Neighborhood Planning Councils. She said it doesn’t make sense to invest no money in intervention and only support the police. She talked about the library hours and how people wait in line for just a few computers and that kids need knowledge and access to technology. She said we were sending the wrong message to our kids, that we were saying we want to put you in jail instead of making sure that you are healthy and smart.
A social worker spoke in favor or the amendment saving the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and investing in Allied Drive. She said we can’t just build big houses, we need to build housing for everyone in Madison, and that has to come in all shapes and sizes. She talked about the grassroots effort to start the fund to leverage state and national funds and provide affordable housing for Madison. She talked about how the low wage jobs in Madison make it hard to afford housing and that people with disabilities and fixed incomes need a place to live and we can’t just build housing for the high end.

At this point, we took a break in the Capital Budget because they found more “early registration” slips. So, we took testimony from people who needed to leave for childcare or other purposes.

The first woman talked about the Girl Neighborhood Power program at Vera Court and how she started when she was in 6th grade and how it gave her an opportunity to keep her off the streets. She talked about how the program gave her confidence and an opportunity to be a leader. She became the summer camp coordinator a youth worker and now the coordinator of the program at Vera Court.
The next person coordinated the Girl Neighborhood Power program at Vera Court for 4 years and then 3 years at Bridge-Lakepointe. She still volunteers for the program. She shared several stories with us about kids in the program and how the community asks the girls to speak or perform at many events.
I missed the next speaker as I took a bathroom break, but they also spoke in support of the Girl Neighborhood Power program.

Then, we went back to the CAPITAL BUDGET

A person who works with the homeless with severe mental illnesses. He talked about how they got $10,000 from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to “fix up run down 4 unit” and were able to help house a man who spent a lot of time sleeping and camping in a park in Alder Claussius’ district. He also wanted to clear up serious misconception about the homeless. He said he has a stack of applications and waiting list about 8 inches high and he wanted to make sure we knew that the vast majority of these people have lived in Madison for years. He talked more about more people who they were able to get into housing including a man who was homeless for 7 years and living in a room in a commercial building in Ald. Clausius’ district, a woman who slept in a in van for 8 years, a man who slept in a van for 12 or 14 years, a man who had a serious heart condition who slept in a lean to in the woods by Shopko Drive and an elderly physically disabled woman who lived in Madison for 50 years. He closed by saying that we’re dealing with people huddled in hide away places in all of the districts, these are your neighbors that have been among you for many years.
A non-profit developer who had spoken in support of CDA doing development on Allied Drive because he thought that only the CDA would work with a group like his. He didn’t expect to see the Affordable Housing Trust Fund being used for infrastructure. He asked us to put people first because cities are about people. He told us if we put people first, it will help make these deicsions a little easier.
Joe Lindstrom from the Homeless Services Consortium talked about the 2006 plan with identifiable actionable strategies to end homelessness. He talked about the proposal that they submitted to the Mayor and the fact that the Mayor didn’t include any of the proposals they recommended. He spoke in support of eviction prevention funding and noted a recent study from Minnesota that showed that it takes $500 to prevent homelessness and $5000 to shelter and rehouse people. He spoke in support of the emergency housing vouchers for victims of domestic violence and to the difficult decision that women who are turned away are forced to make: live on the streets or go back to your abuser. He reminded us that 30% of all police calls in Dane Co are domestic violence related. He talked about the Transit for Jobs program, which provides bus tickets to the homeless. With $40,000 in the first year they served 758 unduplicated individuals. However, people are only allowed two passes for one day and some people get monthly passes to go to work on a regular basis. He told us that beyond the $40,000, several agencies spent additional money on bus tickets so far this year they spent as follows: Porchlight ($20,000), Salvation Army ($12,000), Interfaith Hospitality Neighborhood ($3,000) and the YWCA ($2,100). However, this doesn’t come close to meeting the needs. On Monday, Wednesday and Fridays there are 25 slots per day that are alloted and you have to wait in line at 9:00 and the tickets are gone by 9:06. His time ran out but he also asked us to fund the year round warming shelter for people who can’t get into the shelters because they are full.
The next speaker went home before they had a chance to testify.
A staff member from Habitat for Humanity came to speak to an amendment about TIF funding for a project on Marquette/Hauk. He was neither in support or against since we tried to find another way to fund the project without having to extend the TIF district and go through the TIF process.
A Worthington Park/Darbo resident showed up to support the Habitat project at Marquette/Hauk. She thinks this project can help build up the neighborhood instead of dragging it down like the current program is doing. She urged us to ind solutions to get Habitat to do this project.
Pamela Hathaway who is staff at the East Isthmus Neighborhood Planning Council talked about their work to help strengthen the Darbo/Worthington neighborhood. She said that they worked on the Chronic Nuisance Ordinance and wanted to see it used as little as possible and that supporting the Habitat project at Marquette/Hauk would be one way to do that. She urged us to support the project, in whatever way that might happen.
An Allied Drive resident spoke to the MAP program and the difference it make in her life and how it helped her bring out her skills.

That was the end of the EARLY and CAPITAL BUDGET comments.

There were an additional 10 who registered on 42 more amendments but did not wish to speak and their input was as follows:

Adding language about the Fire Department not spending money before they get a grant – 2 in support, 1 against
Cutting $35,000 for tasers – 3 in support and 2 opposed
Cutting money for automatic, military style rifles – 2 in support, 2 opposed
Using the TIF windfall to fund $2.4M for a new financial software system instead of borrowing – 2 in support
Moving the one stop shop to 2009 to iron out details on the new reorganization of the Department of Planning, Community and Economic Development. 2 in support.
Cutting County Hwy M from the City budget. 2 in support.
Delaying funding for Monroe Street. 2 in support
Cutting funding for a $1.2M loan to the Madison Mallards. 2 in support.
Funding improvements to James Madison Park with borrowing instead of continuing to wait for the land to be sold. 2 in support, 1 opposed.
Moving revolving loan funds from the capital budget to the operating budget. 1 in support.
Designating which units work on projects in the Dept. of Planning and Community and Economic Development. 1 in support.
Requiring Council approval before money is spent in a “slush fund” for the Planning and Community and Economic Development department. 3 in support.
Undergrounding utilities in the Bassett Neighborhood. 1 in opposition.
Cutting some road projects and borrowing to fund the Allied Drive project instead of using the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. 2 in support.
This is the project that we need to amend a TIF district to fund for Habitat for Humanity on Marquette/Hauk. 3 in support, 2 in opposition.
Creating a revolving fund for neighborhood focused improvements. 2 in support.
Cutting funding for the East Isthmus Arts Incubator. 3 in support.

It was now about 8:30. We took a 10 – 15 minute break. At this point we had 62+ people left to speak, and the Mayor cautioned speakers and asked them to keep it short because if everyone took their 5 minutes we would be here until 2:00.

After the break, we started testimony on the OPERATING BUDGET.
These notes are going to get a little more raw, as I rush to make them available.

OPERATING

Against cut to sister cities.

At this point, the Mayor announced that we would not be getting to the Capital Budget that night due to all the public testimony and he told staff to go home.

An AFSCME representative testified in support of paid sick leave for hourly employees, adding back the Fit City Coordinator position, converting 2 part-time workers to one full time Humane Officer, against not doubling (from 2 workers to 4 workers) the park rangers to pay for the homeless outreach workers. And against privatizing the public pool. He noted that if the private sector wanted to build a private pool they should.
A citizen who works with AFSCME spoke to the same amendments as above. Particularly that sick leave for seasonal/hourly staff was a matter of equity. People in those positions provide a valuable service and have needs and families as well. He supported the fit city and human officer positions. He noted that homeless outreach was a laudable goal, but they also need the park rangers. Finally he noted that the pool was a gift to the city and it should be operated by the city.
The Innkeepers showed up to oppose spending part of the $8M in room tax for Downtown safety, even tho they did it the year before. They also support a committee to look at how this money is spent.
Opposed adding more officers. Concerned about calling police and not getting help.
A Worthington/Darbo resident said that everyone knows that preventative medicine is less expensive than the hospital stay and that is the same as social services and police services. The money we spend on prevention is much cheaper. She said there are lots of working families in their neighborhood that need access to quality day care and higher education. People want careers and respect – that is what will create a healthy community and reduce crime. The preventative measures will outweigh the pound of cure that is being proposed. Supported increased library hours and access to technology. Opposed cuts in 38, 48 and 47. Supporting transportation for Darbo kids as well as 35, 24, 27, 26. Opposed to cuts to neighborhood planning councils. Her neighborhood association would not exist without services of EINPC.
SW Madison resident against cutting police officers and any reporting requirements. He’s glad we’re finally having an honest dialog about crime and safety. Showed pictures of gang graffiti in his neighborhood. Thinks police are needed to deal with noise, drug dealing and gang graffiti in his neighborhood. Asked us to put aside politics and support the 30 new officers. Also wanted us to support neighborhood center funding on SW side of Madison but programs need to be in the immediate neighborhood and withing walking distance.
The next registrant left before she was called on.
The next registrant was in opposition to cutting the police. Reminded us that the police we might add are for the entire city, not just the westside. He felt that they spoke loud and clear that they need more police. He thought some of us might be fortunate enough to not have crime in our neighborhoods. He recognized that it was a tight budget and that there are concerns about how they will be funded. He said his neighbors would tell you that they would spend more dollars to make sure people are safe in their neighborhoods. He aid the debate boiled down to – do you respect your police chief, do you honor his knowledge, integrity, professionalism? He said if people start leaving the City of madison, there will be no funding for any of the social programs
SW Madison resident since 1958, didn’t think I would be stainding here asking for more police officers – never thought I’d see gang graffiti in front of my house or live two blciks from a murder or a block away from places where people are carrying a gun and selling crack cocaine. I thought madison was the alternative to reality and the reality in madison has changed.
SW Madison resident who said that they are the 6th or 7th most populated area in Wisconsin with the least number of police officers. Opposed cutting the officers, but supported several of the reporting requirements. Supported funding for neighborhood center on the SW side of Madison. Worried about seeing drug deals in neighborhood, at the gas station, at the grocery store and the Meadowood shopping center. She said people were afraid to go to shopping after school cuz the kids go there, even tho the stores only let 3 kids in the stores at a time. Worried about the shopping center thriving. Liked the neighborhood officer they had. Thinks crime has increased since he left. Quality of life is decreasing in the neighborhood and just wants to sleep with the windows open.
Near east side resident agreed that we have issues with crime but the study is out there and we haven’t gotten it back yet. 30 police officers is based on 1.9 officers per 1,000 residents and that this is not the best assessment, especially since it doesn’t count the UW and Capitol police. Wants their neighborhood officer back, felt she was effective. She said it wasn’t about visibility, but about knowing people in the neighborhood. She feels like the neighborhood helps with neighborhood cohesion and makes a feeling of a community neighborhood. She feels like it is important for the police to know the residents, including the folks in the cars because they are our neighbors. She felt like no matter how good a community policing team officer is, they can’t do as good as of a job as a neighborhood police officer. She said we have good police, but they can’t do the job 30% time. She told us the story of a kid from the neighborhood who asked “where’d the lady cop go” and when she said she was gone, the kid said “that ain’t right”. She agreed, that ain’t right.
An east side resident in support of cutting the police. She wanted to know if 30 or 24 or 18 police officers was right and how we were supposed to know. Said we need the staffing report and what kind of officers we need. Concerned about long term sustainability of this many new hires. Felt many of the issues are quality of life crimes, not violent offenses and reminded us that crimes are down from 30 years ago. She said it was pointless to fill courts and jails in quality of life offenders. I doubt that police coming down harder on people is the right answer. If we have to prioritize, should be prevention, not apprehending and deterring minor offenders. She supported better reporting for the police, including more information about complaints that they get. She opposed cutting the funding for the neighborhood planning councils. She noted that the planning councils leverage subatantial volunteer time and talent, draw citizens in and that probably soon the westside will want a planning council as well based on what they have said. Supported increased hours at Hawthorne Library and was hoping to see it open until 9:00 instead of 8:00.
Darbo/Worthington resident. Supported not funding 30 officers now. Noted that their neighborhood has had crime issues for years. Thinks we need a sustainable plan and a study, we need to be thoughtful. She called this “fear based budgeting at its worst” and wanted to know what we would do next year. Said effective public safety combines enforcement and prevention. The nickel and diming of community services undermines community efforts that get to the root causes of crime. She challenged us to add up the money spent on community services and police services to see if they were equal. And, she said if we didn’t like the way community services decisions were made, that they should reform the way it is done instead of acting in a random and arbitrary manner to make a political point. To cut programs in the name of fiscal responsibility is laughable since cutting $5,000 or $10,000 here and there is pennies on our tax bills. She opposed cuts to afterschool and summer programs in 27 and 38. Supports the weed and seed program. Opposes cuts to neighborhood planning councils since they helped her neighborhood so much.
Former alder Brian Benford left before he had a chance to speak to us.
The next person works with the chronically homeless with severe or persistent mental illness in the downtown area. She pointed out that when illness is untreated, housing is a problem. When the illness is treated, housing becomes easier. We need the homeless outreach coordinators to reach the others that don’t have mental illnesses in the downtown area and to address crisis areas as they arise. Even though she said that homeless has many causes, she suggested that one of the people should be an AODA specific position.
Next a homeless outreach worker at Briarpatch that works with youth under 24 testified. She said that we need more general outreach workers because if she is working with a 19 year old and a 26 year old is standing next to them, she can only help the one under 24. And, its hard to change your situation if you are homeless if you don’t have the guidance that a outreach worker can provide to direct you to services or advocacy within the system.
The next speaker lived downtown and helped organize the homeless discussions that the Capital Neighborhoods group has been having. She talked about how the neighborhood association started with the premise that the status quo of the state of homelessness is unacceptable. She talked about spending 20 – 30 hours a week studying the homeless problem and the respect and the gratitude she had for the work that is being done and the ripple effects that it is having on others. She also said that the need is far greater than the current outreach workers can currently offer. She supported adding the homeless outreach people soon. She added that this is a promising place for powerful change if we are determined.
The next worker went home before she could speak.
The next person spoke on behalf of funding for a neighborhood plan for the James Madison Park Neighborhood. She said we are on the cusp as a neighborhood. We have lots of potential new development as well as issues with homeless and high percentages of renters. She said the neighborhood needed a vision before the developers come in with their agendas. She was concerned that we look at transportation issues and bike flow as well. She wanted to make sure we included a long list of stakeholders, including the small business owners. She also wanted to make sure we looked at which buildings needed to be conserved.
Another downtown resident spoke in favor of the homeless outreach workers but wanted to make sure that they also did outreach to people who live in the area. He said when those who live in the park and have no choice and those who live in houses around them begin to work with each other. He also spoke about how the plan for the James Madison Park District is from another generation when the neighborhood had a different name and different boundaries. He wanted the city to help the neighborhood create a more modern plan when they step up to put the work in.
Another person lives and works downtown who supported money to create a plan for the James Madison Park Neighborhood District. She pointed out that this was a historic part of the heart of downtown that is experiencing quite a bit of development pressure. She was concerned that developers are making choices for the neighborhood and changing the fabric of downtown Madison. She was concerned that once our history is gone, there is nothing we can do.
Carole Schaeffer, the lobbyist for Smart Growth Madison, spoke in support of the new plan for the reorganization for the Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development and dividing the job of the director of the Economic and Community Development into two positions.
Phil Salkin, lobbyist for the Realtors also spoke in support of the new plan for the reorganization for the Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development and dividing the job of the director of the Economic and Community Development into two positions.
Greta Hanson from Community Action Coalition spoke in support for the homeless or near homeless programs. Particularly for the additional eviction prevention and housing entry costs. She said that they receive 15,000 calls for financial assistance for people at risk of being homeless or help getting and apartment and they can only help 10% of the people who call. This money would help 50 – 100 families get into housing.
A case manager from Interfaith Hospitality Network talked about her work with families at a homeless shelter. She said the worst part of her job is when she has to turn people away. There is no place for them to go. She said that they turn away people when they they are full and that 466 people were turned away last year. She said that every family and child deserves a safe place to sleep and to know where their next meal will come from. She supports the homeless overflow shelter even though it will double her workload and she doesn’t get a pay raise.
Another homeless case manager that does follow up work testified in support of additional eviction prevention and housing reentry funds. She pointed out again that is much better to keep someone in their current housing than to rehouse a homeless family. And that expense is not just costly for the agencies, but for the family as well.
A person who works at Madison Urban Ministry testified about the work they do in the community to help prisoners who are reentering the community. They thought that they would serve 150 people in 2006, but instead they served 777. People returning to the community really struggle to find housing and they rely heavily on the homeless shelter system. They support the funding for the overflow family shelter. She also pointed out that when you think about public safety the most dangerous person is someone who has no housing, no job and nothing left to lose. She sees the faces and hears the stories every day – and homelessness happens for many reasons – lost pay for sick time, too many medical bills, getting custody of grandkids while on a fixed income, etc. She also noted that she is personally a foster home parent and they have housed teens whose mom’s wanted them to have a place to stay and they stayed in the car because they can’t get into shelter. She urged support of all of the amendments recommended by the homeless services consortium.

At this point, we were half way through the list of names, but many people had started leaving, technically, we only had 33 people left to speak.

The next speaker left, but might come back.
The next speaker left.
The next speaker spoke about childcare issues and funding for 4C’s and the Latino childcare project. He pointed out that this is one of the best places in the country and we have serious issues of child abuse in family daycare, with half of the busts happening on the southwest side of Madison. He said that when abuse happens, often we just “bury the baby and the conditions continue”. He explained that when the child went to work with his mother at a hotel on the east side of Madison and drown in the pool, they didn’t let that happen. The started a program to help 15 spanish speaking childcare homes get started and they have trained 184 providers. This small amount of money has a big impact and helps with economic devlopment and gets people to work. He said they are trying to find other funding and that this is a one time fix. He talked about why he moved here from Chicago (better schools and daycare) and how the police were important to the work that they do, however, he said if you sacrifice the kids, you’re killing a very special part of Madison, we need to strike the balance – we can’t cut the kids to fund the cops.
The next person was from the Project HUGS program. This program helps families of teens with AODA issues.

At this point it was 10:15 and I opened my 3rd diet coke . . . I wonder how many of those red bulls Eli had . . . .

I didn’t take notes on a few that I missed because I was looking at the registration slips that were being passed around and I thought I’d remember but its all a blur at this point, so my apologies to the one or two people I don’t have notes on.
A person who works in legal services talked in support of emergency homeless vouchers for victims of domestic violence. She told the story of how an emergency voucher helped a woman who escaped and she got her kids back, she got a section 8 voucher and got into permanent housing within months after 17 years of abuse.
The executive director from DAIS spoke about their programs and reminded us that 1/3 of all arrests in Dane County were related to domestic violence. And they only have 25 beds and they fill up quickly. She also reminded us the domestic violence is one of the leading causes of homelessness for women. In 2006 they had 30 days where they had people on the waiting list, this year it was 115 days. In 2006 that was 90 women and children, this year it was 227 women and children. So, she was speaking in support of the additional emergency housing vouchers.
Next up – case manager at YWCA and person on board of Wisconsin Youth. She spoke about a homeless mother with a newborn that had to sleep in her car on the street and the importance of the overflow shelter. She was there to support all the homeless programs. She also spoke of the need for more youth programming on the SW side of Madison, as well as the need for more police.
The executive director of the Rape Crisis Center talked about the work they do training the police and the MATC criminal science classes and the fact that they don’t currently get paid for. She talked about how they work with Girl Neighborhood Power and the Women’s Transit Authority. Last year they did 223 presentations and served 5000 individuals. This is not a downtown issue, but there are people from throughout Madison that use the services. They recently lost the funding from the UW due to administration rules at the UW, plus they lost their lease and have to move.
At this point, a rather exhausted woman who came to speak on behalf of the South Madison Planning Council got up and told us that when she got there she had a long dramatic speech planned, around 8:30 she was going to be only half dramatic and at this point (10:45) all we were going to get was the cliffnotes. She told us that we are all empowered, but there are many neighborhoods throughout Madison that are not.
Pam Hathaway, a staff member at the East Isthmus Neighborhood Planning Council spoke in place of someone else who had gone home. She had to stop twice because Zach was talking to the City Attorney and it was distracting. She asked us to support community members and leaders to advocate on their own behalf. She pointed out that unlike alders, they often work with people who don’t vote and who are not active and do not participate in the public process. She explained that while EINPC had some troubles this year, they used it as an opportunity to reorganize their organization.
The next person left, but they were there to support the MAP program.
This person left, but they were there to support the MAP program.
Another person left, but they were there to support the MAP program.
And yet another 4th person left, but they were there to support the MAP program.
Oh wait, a 5th person who left, but they were there to support the MAP program.
The next person was there stayed to say that the homeless bus ticket program was important. She was formerly homeless and people need bus tickets to get jobs and to look for housing.
The next person also was there to support the bus tickets for the homeless. She pointed out that the real absurdity was that you need bus tickets to get to the places where you can get bus tickets and so her job at the Interfaith Hospitality House was to drive people to places to where they need to go, but bus tickets are cheaper and gave the people more independence. She also reminded us that these meetings that go late into the night make it difficult to get people to come and speak to the issues that are important to them.
The next speaker went home.
The next speaker was there to support the Northside Planning Council (NPC). Opposed all cuts to planning councils. He noted what huge impact that the MPC has had on the northside, including the Warner Park Community Center and Troy Gardens. Without an organization like the NPC we would have some really good things missing in our community.
Another person spoke in support of the Northside Planning Council.
Another person spoke in support of the Northside Planning Council and was a former candidate for alder (and glad he didn’t win.) He talked about how the MPC is helping him resurrect the Vera Court Neighborhood Association. He also noted that he has learned alot from the program and through is learning, he is able to not only be a stronger person, but make his community stronger. He also noted the important role that the NPC played in keeping the northside schools open.
The next speaker left.
Another speaker in support of the Northside Planning Council. Reminded us that their motto is that you “don’t need to move to live in a better neighborhood”. She talked about the work with a bad landlord at the Woodlands and their work on the chronic nuisance ordinance. She also talked about their work with the Cherokee plan and the timebank. She also spoke in support of the Office of Neighborhood Support.
The next speaker was opposed to cutting funding for South Madison Neighborhood Planning Council and in support of the weed and seed program and the south side library. She talked about her family of 8 (including 5 young african american males) standing in line to use the computers at the library and how hard it was to get to the library during the hours they were open due to sports and after school activities. She also talked about how the work weed and seed program and how she was on the steering committee. She talked about hour the SMPC has been a gift from the city. She said she feels like an eagle soaring due to their support and like we are clipping her wings. She asked us not to take her voice from her because she has so many dreams for her community.
The next speaker is a MMSD teacher and in support of extended hours at the South Madison library. He talked about how in Mexico they don’t have libraries that serve as a source of knowledge, culture and education. He said that the library hours are hard for working families. He pointed out that equity is an issue when it comes to community resources and that it will only be equal and fair if they have the same library hours as other libraries.
The next speaker went home, but was in support of extending the S Madison library hours.
There were two speakers who’s names were read off, but they didn’t check the right boxes.
The next speaker was from the Rainbow Project. They work with victims of trauma that are infant – 10 years old. They specialize in abuse and neglect, domestic violence and sexual assault. They had a recent cut in the preschool prevention program. This program helps childcare centers work with kids who are traumatized. She also said that police and services are not either/or. She said we have to reduce poverty and we need smart early intervention and these are not a luxury. She noted that kids are different today. They aren’t worried about nt getting nintendo, they are worried about getting killed. She also noted that when she goes to neighborhoods she can leave and she can go home, kids can’t.

The meeting ended around 11:30 after 5 hours of testimony. In additon to those speakers, there were another 69 registrants on 284 items. Alder Rummel noted that there were around 50 women who testified while there were only around 20 men. I really miss Kristian’s live blogging of the meetings. Not only was it less work for me . . . but I don’t understand how he did this in real time!