Here’s what I have this morning . . . seems skimpy after the monster round ups at the end of last week!
SPECIAL SHOWS ON CITY CHANNEL – EDGEWATER
This project is keeping the staff at Citichannel busy. Here’s some extra meetings you can expect this month:
– Edgewater Hotel – Urban Design Commission: Meeting of February 3, 2010
LIVE, Tuesday, February 3 at 4:30pm
Sunday, February 7 at 10:00pm
– Edgewater Hotel – Public Information Session on the Edgewater Hotel Proposal: February 4, 2010
Friday, February 12 at 9:00pm
Saturday, February 13 at 8:00pm
STUPID CITY
Yesterday, I had three different run ins with the city that made me cringe. I often sympathized with people who complained about the city when I was an alder, but as an alder, had to try to explain why sometimes we did things that didn’t look too smart. Yesterday, three different times, I was glad I didn’t have to explain . . .
1. I forgot something at home and had to go get it. When I got home there were two cars in front of my house both parked in what would be yellow zones if the snow wasn’t covering them. One had their bumper actually hanging over into the crosswalk. Both obviously illegally parked. At the other end of the block there was a third car/truck/van/suv that was parked about 5 feet away from a fire hydrant. I only noticed because there was no where to park legally. When I finally found a spot, I saw the parking enforcement jeep in my rear view mirror and it had slowed down by the first two cars so I assumed they’d all be getting tickets. I was surprised to come out of my house and find no tickets and the parking enforcement jeep no where in sight.
2. There is a sign outside my office at the Social Justice Center . . .
Seemed odd to me as there is no construction in sight. The sign says its Steven’s Construction, so I emailed them to find out if some drunk had dragged the sign away or perhaps they had forgotten it there. But no, they tell me this:
the side walk is closed with the sign displayed at the end of the block as the city requires. I can remove the unofficial no parking from the back of the barricade
Here’s why, at the other end of the block, down by the Crystal Corner at Baldwin and Williamson St. they are doing construction and the whole block is closed “as required by the city”. We’re located at the corner of Williamson and Few, by the Weary Traveler and clearly not impacted by the construction. Making the sign, first of all, absurd. But, second of all . . . don’t they notify businesses that are, even when minorly, impacted? The sign is clearly right at the corner of our building and if the sidewalk is really closed it blocks our handicap accessible front door to our business. Second of all, where located, the sign is useless, and I couldn’t see if there was a more appropriately placed sign down the block, its too far away.
3. Still no bike racks. The Weary Traveler got their bike racks installed, even tho our bike pad was there since the fall of 2008. They apparently came out and wanted to install the bike racks after the last time I blogged about it, but there still is no bike rack. Wanna know why?
It’s not the snow. Despite the fact that the city installed the cement pad for the bike racks, they now are concerned that they can’t put the bike rack there because when they did the street work, they relocated the . . . ahem . . . fire hydrant from the other side of the street and they can’t put a bike rack that close to a fire hydrant. They should have thought of that sooner, eh?
There, my woes with the city. I know the staff are all human and make mistakes and we have some laws that don’t make sense, but wow, three in one day? Like I said, I’m just glad I don’t have to play alder and explain to a constituent why the city sometimes does dumb things.
CAMPUS NEWSPAPERS ONLY MEDIA IN TOWN COVERING LOCAL NEWS?
I shudder to think that sometimes the only place to find local news is the not-always-quite-accurate-but-A-for-effort student papers. Last night, the student papers were at the Plan Commission meeting on the Downtown Plan. Thanks to the Badger Herald and Daily Cardinal (ahem, Broom not Brooks) for covering this issue. My post is coming, I have some more analysis of some materials to do and we’ll see how it compares to the accuracy of the reporting of what was relevant at the meeting.
FOX GUARDING THE HEN HOUSE
Sure, just let the alcohol industry police itself. And hey, lets just let the developers plan the city. I’m not saying this is necessarily a bad idea, but you can see the slippery slope here, right?
SMALLER COUNTY BOARD?
I typically think this is a bad idea. The more people someone has to represent, the less time they have to take care of constituent concerns. And, after all, these are part time time jobs. They might not be as busy as a City of Madison alder, but the more work they have to do, the less poeple will be willing to run. Additionally, most county board meetings are done in 2 hours or less, and its not uncommon for them to be done in less than an hour. Finally, they manage their time well – something the city could emulate.
TUTORS NEEDED
Schools of Hope is having a training tonight if you are interested.
NO PLOWING RESIDENTIAL AREAS (AND NO SNOW EMERGENCY?)
Shit, they were excessively plowing my residential area all night long . . . yawn.
Salting crews have been out since the snow began last evening. Crews have been salting and plowing our main arterials and salt routes throughout the overnight hours. We will continue to salt and plow the main arterials throughout the day today.
We are expecting a slow commute this morning as the snow continues to fall. While the salt has been applied and the plows are out, the streets will remain snow covered and slippery until the snow comes to an end later this morning and the crews get the snow pushed off and the salt finishes it’s job.
We are expecting total accumulations of between 1.5″ and 2″ from this storm. As we all know, the City of Madison Snow and Ice policy states that we don’t plow all residential streets until we receive accumulations of 3″ or more. As a result, we are not expecting to plow all residential streets at this time. We will sand the hills, intersections and curves of the residential streets that do not receive salt but we are not anticipating plowing all streets as a result of this storm.
HOPE FOR COMMUNITY TV?
Update: PEG bill released!
LRB 3996 contains AB606 PEG provisions onlyConcerned about the fast approaching end of the 2009 – 2010 legislative session and the need to pass community television legislation before the three-year sunset on PEG fees ends on January 1, 2011, Rep. Hebl has created a new bill with just the community television provisions from AB606.
The bill was quickly circulated for co-sponsors over the last couple of weeks. Co-sponsors of LRB 3996, the community television – only version of AB606 are:
Rep. Gary Hebl – Sun Prairie
Rep. Christine Sinicki – Cudahy and St. Francis
Rep. Jeff Smith – Eau Claire
Rep. Louis Molepske, Jr. – Stevens Point
Rep. Spencer Black – Madison
Rep. Therese Berceau – Fitchburg and Madison
Rep. Gordon Hintz – Oshkosh
Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts – Middleton, Fitchburg, and Mount Horeb
Rep. Kelda Roys – Waunakee
Rep. Frederick Kessler – Milwaukee
Rep. Steve Hilgenberg – Dodgeville
Rep. Terry Van Akkeren – Sheboygan
Rep. Marlin Schneider – Wisconsin Rapids
Rep. Amy Sue Vruwink – Marshfield
Rep. Garey Bies – Sturgeon Bay
Rep. Mary Hubler – Rice Lake
Rep. Gary Sherman – Bayfield
Rep. Phil Garthwaite – Platteville
Rep. Annette Williams – Milwaukee
Senator Kathleen Vinehout – Alma
Senator Mark Miller – Sun Prairie
Senator Judy Robson – Janesville
Senator Fred Risser – MadisonAB606 has been referred to the Committee of Energy and Utilities. We are waiting for the scheduling of a public hearing in February.
In addition to the legislators above,
AB606 is co-sponsored by:Rep. Robert Turner – Milwaukee
Rep. John Steinbrink – Pleasant Prairie
Rep. Mark Pocan – Madison
Rep. Kim Hixson – Whitewater
Rep. Chuck Benedict – Beloit
Rep. Parisi – Monona, McFarland, Blooming Grove
Rep. Ann Hraychuck – Grantsburg, Balsam Lake
Sen. Tim Carpenter – Milwaukee, GreenfieldTHANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF COMMUNITY TV!
AB606 and LRB 3996 have also recently collected the support of the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups and the Wisconsin League of Women Voters!
