Many, many miscellaneous thoughts on things that happened last week – very, very busy during a time when most people are on vacation.
DID YOU EVER NOTICE
This has driven me crazy for quite some time. The very first thing on the Common Council Agenda says the following:
If you need an interpreter, translator, materials in alternate formats or other accommodations to access this service, activity or program, please call the phone number below at least three business days prior to the meeting.
Why does that drive me crazy? Well, the agenda typically comes out on Friday, sometimes late in the day, so there is not way to comply with the requirements to get assistance. I’m quite certain it is true for many meetings throughout the city, but it seems particularly obnoxious on the Council agenda.
3 OF 13, CLOSE ENOUGH
Why did the Board of Estimates approve this and send it on to the Common Council without a better plan in place? It seems that they still have to find 10 sites for program which might be in city parks or at retail stores. Seems like it has quite a bit of work still to be done, but if they approve this it won’t come back to council. Seems it is not soup yet.
BENCH DIVIDERS – STATE STREET NEXT?
I understand that the Greater State Street Business Association has placed an item on the agenda this week that would put dividers on benches just like on the Capital Square . . . What bothers me on these decisions is, where is the public process? A group of business leaders decide something should be done and the City just jumps and asks how high?
DEEP POCKETS – AND THE CITY JUST KEEPS ON GIVING – FOR SOME
$2M for police training facilities, $16M for TIF for the Edgewater and now . . . $37M for the library, but we don’t have $150,000 – $200,000 for Cost of Living increases for much needed community services that are facing increased requests for services and haven’t had adequate cost of living increase for years – while health care costs skyrocket and the living wage continues to increase rapidly, squeezing the organizations at a time when fundraising is down. (Ok, I won’t rant on, but you get the picture) What the hell are our/the City’s/the Mayor’s/your Alder’s priorities? Seems so backwards/asinine to hire so many police (over $1M per year) and not support the prevention and support services with minimal increases.
CELL PHONES – NUMBER ONE REQUEST OF THE POOR?
Somehow, I don’t believe it. It’s probably not even the number one unmet need. Help paying rent and utility bills, bus passes, food, clothing, emergency shelter, childcare assistance, legal services, a place to put their belongings, help moving, security deposit assistance and many, many, many other things seem to come way ahead of requests for cell phones. Not that its a bad idea, don’t get me wrong . . . it just isn’t the number one need by a very, very long shot.
THE CRIME REPORT
When you look at the latest news and you see this (example from the 29th):
* Madison teen taken by MedFlight after vehicle accident TCT 7:45 am
* Madison man killed in alcohol-related crash WSJ 7:27 am
* Prepare for a somewhat chilly weekend TCT 7:16 am
* Woman convicted in Richland Center fire WSJ 11:49 pm
* Madison man charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide WSJ 9:42 pm
* Chemical reaction at House on the Rock; no one injured WSJ 8:27 pm
* Massachusetts man arrested for Thursday night incident in Madison WSJ 7:31 pm
* This one’s no joke: Plastic pink flamingo might be named Madison’s city bird WSJ 7:24 pm
* Oregon man charged with sexual assault WSJ 7:11 pm
* Verona city administrator resigns WSJ 5:56 pm
It seems like all that is happening in Madison is crime. I know it easy to report on because the police spoon feed the reporters (the police have a full time press person with nothing else to do), but it seems absurd that the news is so dominated by this. That’s why I’m happy to see that on the new madison.com website, the Cap Times has a separate section for “law and order”. . . now if the Wisconsin State Journal would do the same . . .
MORE CHANGES REQUESTED AT THE NEW MADISON.COM
1. Make the archives easier to find and the search function work better.
2. Make the blogs easier to find. (Cap Times did a little better.)
POLICE WON’T RESPOND
Lukas Diaz said it better than I could. I attended the meeting of the Public Safety Review Board where they discussed the Woodman’s problem and I was a little horrified that one of the members asked what was going to happen when word got out that you could steal up to $20 and the police would do nothing – and all they got was a shrug. They can use the civil court process. Why does this remind me of the attempts by the police not respond to burglary alarms . . . and the increase in robberies in the following months?
SOUTHWEST SIDE DIVIDE
Mayor and Chief Wray don’t know what to think . . . attempts to solve community problems without the police? That just wasn’t part of the plan. They can starve the non-profits to make them ineffective, so the police are the only answer, but the community isn’t falling for it. There are other solutions out there. Even Lenfeld got it when he said that “Law enforcement is a very short-term solution,”. The programs, community response and preventative services that aren’t being adequately funded are the long term solutions and will have a much greater impact than a code of conduct. (That oughta give Blaska something to write about! I can hear it now, Progressive Dane ala Konkel is ruining the world . . . fyi, this blog are my thoughts only, not the official Progressive Dane word, I’m not on the spokesperson, or even on the steering committee. Just a former alder with some time on my hands!)
WHAT DID LUEDERS SAY?
The city assessor is in favor of limiting information available to the public because it would make his job easier? Huh? He should have thought of that when we went through that whole property tax fiasco which his office aggressively pursued to no avail. That wasted alot of time, money and effort for many.
CREDIT FOR EMPLOYMENT
This makes sense to me. Why does your employer need to know your credit, what does that have to do with what kind of employee you are going to be?
There, I feel a little caught up – but its a very, very busy week ahead and I’m still behind on some library stuff and the operating budget grades.
