Opinion

Tomorrow February 19 (Primary), and following that April 2, 2019(general), are important local/non-partisan elections for the State and the city of Madison.   In April...

I'm one of those people who like to wait for the last minute to decide who I would vote for. I like to see the campaign finance reports to see who's really supporting people and see what last minute "news" comes out of the campaigns. I also like to make sure there aren't last minute shinanigans. So, its about 50 hours before the polls close and here's my choices for the upcoming primaries.

The incident at the Finance Committee last night should be Exhibit A about why the city should spend money on services, and not more police and security at Tree Lane (Housing First Apartment Project for formerly homeless families). Issues can be dealt with without police/security, and the resulting trauma and escalation. Issues should be addressed with services and community.

Send a former police detective (Gloria Reyes) to do a Social Services Job - and you get what a police officer would do. Not what is needed. The City should not be pursuing an action against its community partner when there has been so much progress.

Here's 10 things city hall could change that I witnessed in less than 2 hours!  Good grief. I was interested in going to three different meetings yesterday. Government officials and committee members are wondering how to get more people to participate in local government - based on my experiences yesterday, I can name a few.