Media

13 meetings, and new committee assignments came out on Friday - we'll be finding out who is the chair of various committees in the upcoming weeks, tho they are likely the first one's listed for each committee.

A mess as usual, I interpreted the two schedules the best I could.

The Chamber of Commerce was just one vote away from from preventing the City of Madison from giving input on about the F-35s. Luckily, reason prevailed. And please note, if you think all liberals are the same - that's not true, there are big differences. Some liberals stand up for the Chamber of Commerce, some stand up for the people of Madison, particularly low-income neighborhoods that are impacted by decisions like bringing F-35s to Madison. This is what happens when people aren't paying attention (i.e. not election time, , media doesn't cover things.) And wow, this is either "much ado about nothing" or it IS about something. And I don't think alders would be fighting this hard to not do something unless it somehow mattered.

They are elections a new council President (Samba Baldeh?) and Vice President (Sheri Carter) and thanking outgoing President Marsha Rummel. They will be hearing from the police chief on his quarterly report and I'd be surprised if they didn't talk about F-35s . . . but I've been surprised before!

Which is really your feedback. It is 40 pages long . . . here's the main recommendations at this point- it may or may not be what gets passed tonight, I'm not clear as I think there is another substitute resolution coming. Good news is that if you have input, its a SHORT agenda for tonight. Will the council bend to the will of the Chamber of Commerce or will they vote for the people of Madison who are most impacted by this decision and the environment? :( I hope I'm wrong about my prediction.

Will they allow us to speak on budget night? They should. They might, if you tell them that is what you want! Your help is needed to make Dane County Government more open, accessible and transparent! Email you county board supervisors today!

5 meetings on 3 different days!

New county board leadership and setting their rules of procedure for the next two years on TUESDAY (not Thursday)- possible exciting changes such as - letting the public testify at their budget meeting! Should be a no-brainer . . .

Agendas continue to be messed up, expect changes. Council to elect new all people of color leadership on Tuesday, likely Samba Baldeh for President and Sheri Carter for Vice President.

Public hearings, things people show up for, anything they pull off the agenda at the meeting and the following (Confederate Monuments, planting beds around the square, 2018 Sewer, Stormwater and Landfill Rates, and F-35s):

There was a jam packed agenda on last night for the Homeless Issues Committee - there was an update on the Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, an update on the Zero Initiative to end chronic and veteran homelessness, an update on the gaps in the system, updates on the Beacon, Messners and so much more. 2.5 hours - you can watch it all here - but I wanted to highlight the section about the gaps and how little progress has been made in the past 6 years.

So, I went to the meeting about the Beacon the other day. Neighbors are upset about police calls, police say its getting better, the Beacon staff did their best to say very little and get people out of there as quickly as possible. During the meeting and on the news they said that they patterned their rules after the library - so what are their rules? Let's take a look.