I’m taking the day off tomorrow, so here it is today . . . It’s a little short, there’s been so much to blog about lately and it will be another very busy week!
EDGEWATER = THE ODDEST DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL TACTICS EVER
Radio ads & video by labor groups which is also now showing on television, large full color elections style mailings to large area downtown, booklets hand delivered to the alders
From: Sarah Carpenter [carpenters@hammescosports.com]
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 2:06 PM
To: ALL ALDERS; Mendoza, Mario
Cc: Tina Kurt
Subject: Edgewater Informational BookletDear Alders –
We are working on an informational booklet for the Edgewater redevelopment which provides a design overview, and outlines the project benefits and considerations for your review. We would like to deliver the booklet to you on Monday. Please let me know your preferred location for delivery.
press releases about alders asking questions, trips for neighbors to Lambeau Field skyboxes . . . I’m afraid to see what is next! What’s really odd to me is that they are spending all this time on the PR campaign, but can’t get the information to the committees that need it, even after several requests. And they haven’t worked things out with the DNR, or applied for the Landmarks or Zoning Board of Appeals approval which are necessary for the project to move forward. And after reducing the project costs by millions didn’t change the $16M TIF request. Hell, it still isn’t even in a TIF district! They seem to have some misplaced priorities.
WHO’S OBSESSED?
Emily Mills accused me of being obsessed by the Edgewater. At least 5 of my last 9 blog posts aren’t about the Edgewater. I’d suggest there are other more obsessed with the project than I . . . here the Mayor defends TIF for the Edgewater, belittles the neighborhood, talks about the new plans and the “public space”, how the Edgewater will help with historic preservation, and talks about how he loves tall buildings, including the Edgewater. I guess it doesn’t really matter who is obsessed and who isn’t but why is the Mayor so invested in this project getting shoved down our throats?
ALRC TO START FOLLOWING THE RULES
Well, glad I went to the illegal meeting and glad to see things will be changing:
From: Plominski, Katherine
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 3:47 PM
To: Statz, Ronda; Chet Gerlach; David Hart; Dawn Crim; Gloede, Carl; Mark Woulf; Shapiro, Marsh; Schumacher, Michael; Verveer, Mike; Pam Bean; Brist, Steven; Tom Farley; Tom Landgraf
Subject: proper protocol for subcommittee meetingsAll-
See attached for very brief notes from the subcommittee meeting on 10/28.
I will have an agenda item at the 11/18 meeting if members want to discuss further.
I wanted to take this opportunity to provide clarifications as to proper protocol for subcommittee meetings:
1.) Once there is an approved request for a new subcommittee, the ALRC should clarify who will be part of that subcommittee meeting for quorum purposes.
2.) The member requesting the subcommittee meeting should provide detailed information as to what will be discussed in the subcommittee meeting. That information needs to get incorporated into the publicly noticed agenda. If there may be a quorum of ALRC members present, the agenda should reflect it.
3.) At the start of the subcommittee meeting, a chair should be appointed. Alders cannot chair subcommittee meetings.
4.) Robert’s rules of order should be followed unless there is a motion to waive the rules.
More information can be found on this website: http://www.cityofmadison.com/attorney/meetings/training.cfm
Sincerely,
Katherine
200 E MIFFLIN ST DEVELOPMENT?
On Monday, November 9th at 6pm, the Steering Committee for 200 E Mifflin will be hosting Jack Holzhueter. Holzhueter has many years of service with the Wisconsin Historical Society, as editor of the Wisconsin Magazine of History, and serves on the board of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. The purpose of this meeting will be to learn more about the history of the Lamp House and surrounding block.
Steering Committee meetings are always open to everyone, but we’d like to especially invite other neighbors to attend this meeting. You don’t need to have an interest in any of the development proposals for the block. If you’d just like to learn a bit more about a part of the neighborhood you might not have even known was there, it’ll be well worth your time.
Jack has suggested that it would be helpful for audience members to have read his 1989 article on the relationship between Robert Lamp and Frank Lloyd Wright:
Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 72, number 2, winter, 1988-1989. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Designs for Robert Lamp, by John O. Holzhueter, pp. 82-125.
To make it easiser to print, I’ve put it all into one PDF file here.
The meeting is at the First United Methodist Church, on Dayton and Wisconsin Avenue. We’ll be in Fellowship Hall on the first floor. We hope to see you there!
Information about this and other meetings is available on our blog.
COUNTY COMMITTEE VACANCIES
Hmmmm . . . does this seem odd to you? This is the response someone got when requesting information about county vacancies:
The County does not provide a list of current committee vacancies; I know that the City does. We want people to apply for the committees that truly interest them and that they can make a contribution to. We have over 80 committees, and each has waiting lists of up to 25 people. So we like to gather applications as they are submitted and refer to them as openings occur on the committees you are interested in. Some times the oldest application is not the best applicant suited to the vacancy.
So please fill out the yellow sheet that Bonnie gave you, or fill out one on our web site (www.co.dane.wi.us), under the County Executive’s section, and we’ll add your name to our waiting lists.
