Media

It's a little awkward to think you know anything about a place by visiting for an hour, but here's some of my observations about the Right to Dream Too homeless "rest area" in downtown Portland, right at the entrance to the Chinatown area of the city - it was just a few blocks from our hotel.

We learned this week that Officers Scott McConnell and Dean Baldukas were disciplined for their online comments in a petition presented to the Common Council and four other officers the department refuses to identify were disciplined for their roles in the whiteboard incident suggesting how to make homeless persons move from the top of State St.

ACLU hammers the Madison Police Department for its discriminatory blue-lining practices towards tenants! Wait, what? What does the police department have to do with tenants? Plenty.

24 meetings packed into three days . . . so far.

. . . Love, the City Attorney.

So, part one was all the way up to actually getting notified that I was fired, part two is what happened afterwards.

Meetings at 8:30, noon, 3:45, 1:00, 2:30, etc. Don't seem designed for them to actually be public meetings, do they?

(Don't worry the video is only 30ish minutes, not 2 hours!) I feel privileged to be working with Mr. Vang, who says all the things I thought Madison believed in . . . and yet we can't seem to get right. And he acts on it. More moving testimony from Mr. Vang. Hope to see you at the Zoning Board of Appeals at 5:00.

Also, budget, budget, budget. And referendum.

Hey homeless people, understand you are at risk, but we can't actually, you know, HELP YOU! Do you understand that? Yeah, you there, sleeping on the square on hard cement or uncomfortable bench, you DO understand its hot and you are at risk, right? What should you do, where should you go - well, we can't help with that. Just know it hot and you are at risk. There, we have warned you, we now wash our hands of this matter - Sincerely Dane County Human Services.

No more boy scout or girl scout events, no more church camping events, no more sleep overs with the neighborhood kids, no more overflow sleeping for guests - tents in your back yard, or anywhere in the city, are illegal and you will be violating zoning code and could be written up if you don't comply.

The most important redevelopment effort in the City of Madison for the next generation is getting started in the Capitol East District along East Washington Avenue. Read on for a look at some of the projects that could be starting soon, as well as some thoughts on what we can be doing different, and the challenges we would face.