So . . . people are getting angry. Feeling like they have been betrayed by what was supposed to be a radical, feminist, lefty, LGBTQ mayor that truly cares about equity and does all the things. Instead, she’s become a mouthpiece for the Chamber of Commerce/business interests. Hmmmm.
I’m hearing people are pissed, everywhere I go and all over Facebook. I’m resisting the urge to say “I told you so”, but only a little. I’m not surprised, but I’ve been betrayed by her before and expected it. I’m not sure if its ego, or ambition, or being too brainy/Ivory Tower/privileged and not understanding the real lives of people, or maybe she was just a poser in the first place, or she’s just slow and deliberative and she’ll eventually get to it. Who knows? And frankly, who cares? She’s a better mayor than Paul Soglin, but that’s not saying much and sometimes she’s just like him. What matters is, she made campaign promises and she should be held to them. That’s why people voted for her, and she should be held accountable.
HOMELESSNESS
Tiny Houses are cool, but you know, if people would just accept treatment . . .
Yeah, she said that. On Tuesday at the Common Council Executive Committee talking about the Top of State Street she says this:
“…a lot of it we think is related to drug use and addiction, and so how do we constantly be offering people the opportunity to get help. Which is just difficult because people have to want it, in order to take advantage of the services.”
Yeah, because those services are just so readily available? Reality check!!!!!!! She says she’s been working on this issue since she’s been in office (5 months) and yet the only thing she could come up with is “wait for winter” and “the party is over“?
Homeless advocates have talked to the Mayor and her Chief of Staff and have come away disappointed, feeling like they weren’t heard or understood. Homeless (and formerly homeless) individuals I have talked to hear her comments and are re-traumatized and made to feel worthless and unwanted, just like Paul Soglin’s comments made them feel. They don’t see any difference. And quite frankly, at this point, neither do I.
ENVIRONMENT
BRT is cool, but . . . um, those F-35s that she failed to break the tie so the council would be on record opposing. What do you think they’re doing to the environment?
This is from Heidi Wegleitner on my Facebook page on a post about transportation being a priority but affordable housing getting lost:
BRT to keep cars off the road. Emissions from F35s equivalent to adding thousands of cars to the roads every year. Why can’t we have consistency in decision-making and addressing stated priorities? Draft EIS on F-35s at page 58: “The annual airfield CO2e emissions would increase by approximately 12,478 tons or 135 percent. This is equivalent to adding an additional 2,438 passenger vehicles onto roads, driving 11,500 miles per year on average.” Yet another reason to oppose the F-35s and the plan to base them in Madison. The U.S. Military is one of the largest climate polluters in history. Based on its liquid fuel purchases alone, it would be ranked 47th in the world if it were a country.
And what about PFAS and our drinking water? Where are you Mayor Rhodes-Conway? As alder you led the charge to make sure we had committees to work with the water utility to ensure that we had clean, safe drinking water. What happened?
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
She says affordable housing is a priority, but . . . if I have to listen to one more person say that her capital budget prioritizes transportation and affordable housing I may jump out the nearest window (hopefully it on the first floor!) Lets compare the two
Transportation: $100M for Bus Rapid Transit.
Affordable Housing: $500,000 a year added to the Affordable Housing Fund. As Jim O’Keefe, the Community Development Director explained at the Finance Committee, this is just to keep up with rising costs. And seriously, how much affordable housing will that create? 2 units? 3 units? 6 units?
The only other money put in the capital budget for affordable housing was $1M for land banking, but don’t be fooled, look at the language that was put in the ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIVISION, not COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIVISION.
This program is for the strategic acquisition of land or buildings in targeted areas to be redeveloped or for future City use. The goal of the program is to support the creation of affordable housing, neighborhood amenities, and employment opportunities in areas that lack affordable housing or are at risk of displacement of low-income households. Specific targets for acquisition will be guided by a Land Banking Policy to be created by the Housing Strategy Committee and approved by the Common Council. It is anticipated that specific sites will be identified by the Economic Development Division in consultation with the Community Development Division and Planning Division in early 2020. The proposed funding level will support one to three purchases annually. Acquired properties will be sold or leased to developers identified through a request for proposal (RFP)process. Funding in 2020 is from a transfer from the General Fund that had previously been allocated to the Public Market.
Will this money actually go towards affordable housing? Who knows, I guess we’ll find out.
EQUITY
She said all the pretty words . . . but failed to stand up for the low-income and people of color of the Northside – an area she represented as Alder! An area that has some of the biggest disparities in the schools, Truax Apartments that are already being impacted by the F-16s, highest eviction rates, etc. etc. etc. What happened to the pretty words?
And again, look at her capital budget priorities:
6% on Neighborhoods and Housing?
1% on Economy and Opportunity?
And 5% on Culture and Character and 8% on Effective Government?
What does that say about her priorities????
COZYING UP TO THE CHAMBER
This is perhaps the most disgusting piece of them all. Her failure to break the 10-10 tie allowed the Chamber of Commerce to have this headline in their press release: Common Council rejects resolution opposing F-35A basing.
Quid pro quo? The next day in her press release on the Metro Forward on her transportation plans, this quote appears:
“The Chamber has endorsed Bus Rapid Transit in our two most recent advocacy agendas as a vital investment in supporting our growing economy. This will help connect more people with jobs, increase weekend and evening service, transport young people and college students to school and significantly reduce ride times,” said Zach Brandon, President of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.
And, what committees is the mayor spending time with, the BID Board, the Monona Terrace, etc. She’s hanging out with the entrepreneurs and the cool kids and people with money. Where is she at the committees that directly address the issues she ran on?
This is her tone-deaf Facebook post the day after the F-35 vote where she gave the Chamber of Commerce that press release headline. I can’t wait to see the campaign finance reports on this!
IT’S MAKE OR BREAK TIME PEOPLE
So, is all hope lost? I’m not typically an optimist, but I don’t think so.
[SIDE NOTE: I don’t want to say this, because she sees me as an advocate and an organizer and has said that she needs me (and Progressive Dane) to give her cover to support progressive ideas, but she won’t hire me. I’m supposed to just volunteer and sit down and be quiet and be a good girl and do as she says. So, by writing the next paragraph, I’m playing right into that role.]
The mayor needs to hear from people that her actions have been disappointing and that we will hold her accountable to all the promises she made. All politicians need to be help accountable for the pretty words they say during their election. For the promises they made, the values they said they stand for. Our politicians are only as strong as the people pushing them to do the right thing. If we don’t push, the Chamber of Commerce and monied interests will spend tons of money making sure they do. And if they are the one’s she’s meeting with and have her ear, we can expect more of the same. She needs to hear from people – regular every day people – that we expect more. Because we can do better! We really can. Will this be the mayor that actually does what she said she would do?
Inspired? Email her today: SRhodes-Conway@cityofmadison.com
