My referendum (Cap Times) is better than your referendum (no print press coverage?). Sigh, a classic case of the politics of “me too”. And a classic example of us talking about the wrong thing. Instead of talking about a referendum on trolleys, we should be talking about improvements we can make to the bus system today.
As way of background, on Wednesday, the Common Council got this email from the Munoz campaign.
From: Munoz for Madison
Sent: Wed 1/24/2007 2:49 PM
To: Thomas, Cindy; Bruer, Tim; Radomski, Noel; Van Rooy, Paul; Rosas, Santiago; Compton, Judy; Palm, Larry; Knox, Isadore; Benford, Brian; Gruber, Timothy; Golden, Ken; Skidmore, Paul; King, Austin; Brandon, Zach; Olson, Judy; Verveer, Mike; Sanborn, Jed; Konkel, Brenda; Webber, Robbie; Cnare, Lauren
Subject: Munoz calls for Trolley/ Streetcar ReferendumDear Council Members:
Today I released a statement asking you to place an advisory referendum on the April 3rd ballot. The referendum asks voters whether the City should consider installing streetcars/trolleys as part of its public transportation system.
I hope you will take this opportunity to support the advisory referendum so taxpayers can decide the future of Mass Transit within our community. I would greatly appreciate your support in providing voters the opportunity to express their will on this important issue. Please feel free to call me for further discussion.
Best Regards,
Peter R. Munoz
[phone number deleted]MUNOZ for MADISON
NEWS RELEASEFor Immediate Release:
January 24, 2007
For More Information Contact:
Napoleon Smith
[phone number deleted]Peter Munoz, Mayoral Candidate, Calls for Madison Voter Referendum on Streetcars/Trolleys
Madison – City of Madison mayoral candidate Peter Munoz is calling for a voter referendum on whether the City should consider installing streetcars/trolleys as part of its public transportation system. The referendum is to be included on the April 3, 2007 ballot.
Peter Munoz stated: “Mayor Cieslewicz dreams of having streetcars/trolleys in Madison. This is a very expensive dream that Madison simply does not need or can afford. I think Madison taxpayers do not agree with the Mayor nor want to foot the bill to make his dream a reality.”
Mayor Cieslewicz wants to pay for trolleys by combining Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) with room tax and other local funding. Peter Munoz stated: “The City is facing a crisis with its inability to provide basic services, such as safe, clean drinking water, and assuring public safety. The City must ensure its resources are invested wisely to address this crisis rather than spend them in pursuit of frivolous dreams. Taxpayers simply cannot afford to pay for the Mayor’s vision of a ‘cool’ transit alternative. They must have the last word on this issue.”
By Thursday, Mayor Dave was calling for his own referendum.
Ignoring the politics of trolleys and the upcoming Mayor’s race, is a referendum or referenda on trolleys what we need as a City? Don’t we need the community discussion on the transportation options available to us? Safe, reliable, affordable mass transportation is clearly a need in a City like ours. I’m skeptical that trolleys are the way to get us there and prefer to see us putting all this time and energy and media attention into the bus system. Why aren’t we focusing on studying the bus system and improvements that could be made there? Changes to the bus system can happen within the year, we won’t see a trolley, or light rail or intercity rail for years.
Part of me is tempted to support an immediate referendum on the trolley issue to put the issue to rest so we can move on to some real discussions about what our city’s mass transportation needs are. Part of me thinks the community discussion on ALL of the transportation options is a better way to go. However, based on past experiences, I’m skeptical that this community discussion will happen in a meaningful way. But . . . the Mayor’s press release on this said something that has some appeal. It calls for:
. . . a three-step process:
1. Allow the Streetcar Study Committee to complete its proposal for a streetcar system sometime this summer.
2. Evaluate that proposal together with recommendations from other committees reviewing transit issues, such as Transport 2020, which is studying commuter rail, and the Mayor’s ad hoc committee on the long-term future of the Madison Metro bus system.
3. If there is agreement to go ahead with the streetcar or a more comprehensive proposal, he would take that to a public referendum before the project moved forward.
It’s hard to ignore the mayoral politics going on here and make a decent decision. It is hard to trust that any decision about public transportation is going to have meaningful community input, given past promises of public input. It is hard to see us likely wasting all this time on discussions of trolleys when it seems unlikely to be a viable solution for our community and meanwhile, not focusing on improvements to the bus system – that can happen now.
Referendum now or later doesn’t seem to be the solution. We need a firm, detailed commitment for a meaningful community discussion – i.e. not the way we usually do it. It’s unfortunate that the Council will be discussing trolley referenda at the next Council meeting when we will likely have more pressing needs on our agenda . . . like Allied Drive and the reorganization of the Department of Planning and Development (proposed to be Department of Economic and Community Development) and meanwhile, we won’t be talking about the City bus system.
