There are 5 people who want to step up and serve in the role of alder for District 8 until there is an elections next spring. Let’s take a look! Common Council Executive Committee will meet tonight to interview and make a recommendation (if they have quorum!)
Meeting is tonight at 5:15 in room 153 of the Municipal building. Here’s the agenda. Alders Evers, Foster and Kemble will all be absent.
The agenda is very specific:
- WELCOME & OVERVIEW OF THE INTERVIEW & SELECTION PROCESS – Ald. Shiva Bidar, Chair, CCEC
- APPLICANT INTERVIEWS
– Interview Questions will be asked by members of the CCEC.
– Each applicant will be allotted 15 minutes (total) to answer questions.
– Applicants will be interviewed in alphabetical order. - RECESS
- ANNOUNCE SCORING RESULTS, CCEC REVIEW & FINAL APPLICANT RECOMMENDATION TO COMMON COUNCIL
Here’s the info submitted by the candidates. I just pasted the statements, the resumes are also in the links.
There are a lot of different ways people find meaning in life. For me, ever since moving to Madison for college and being involved in the ASM Student Government, I have always loved advocating for change and fighting to make sure all voices are heard. Since nothing gives me a sense of purpose like developing relationships and working on making real change, I’m extremely excited to be able to apply for the District 8 Alder of the City of Madison.
Moving to the United States from Israel in high school was hard, but opened up a spark into a newly developed passion: Using relationships to make change in our community. Everything I have done as a student at UW-Madison, whether serving as ASM Student Government Vice President, serving as the Open Seat Food Pantry External Director, or serving as a Business Ethics & Leadership Teaching Assistant, I have put my passions for leadership, advocacy, and forming connections at the forefront of my work.
Some of my biggest hopes to achieve as Alder include: :
● Increase student engagement in the city by working with them and helping them apply for city committees
● Plan fundraisers, clothes drives, and job fairs to improve the circumstances for the homeless population in Madison
● Work with Madison Police to update Medical Amnesty Laws to make the city uniform with the university
● Support the Bus Rapid Transit Initiative
Ever since deciding to stay in Madison after I graduate, I have decided to become more involved not just in the university but in the city of Madison in every way I can. It would be an honor to be chosen to represent District 8 and combine my passions of advocacy, social justice, and true representation.
Sincerely,
Yogev Ben-Yitschak
A statement on why the applicant wishes to serve:
I once heard a role model ofmine, Ali Muldrow, say “leadership is the ability to look at the world and not see what it is, but what it could be.” When I look at Madison I see an already inclusive and progressive community with the possibility for more. The possibility to be a globally-leading community and not only for thousands ofother municipalities in the present but for decades in the future.
As someone who was born and raised in this community, I’ve always felt a sense of responsibility to serve and promote the wellbeing of my peers, whether that be through holding a position on the common council, community organizing, or even simply volunteering. I believe I represent not only a large portion of this community but also an even more substantial portion of District 8. My job as a community organizer focuses entirely around organizing my peers for the greater good. I’ve organized thousands of young people and community members with the notion in mind that this is an effort to grow and transfOlm our community into something better. That notion has always been reciprocated by every attendee; we simply want what’s best for our community and it’s residents.
District 8 has never seen an alder with an LGBTQ+ identity and I wish to continue the tradition that Alderwoman Reddy was apart of–breaking barriers of inclusivity because that’s what makes our community stronger.
A statement ofwhat the applicant wants to accomplish:
Building off of the accomplishments of both Alderwoman Reddy and other city officials, I’d like to work to create a more inclusive Madison. I’d work to build a type of inclusivity that recognizes the intersections of identities and the experiences we have as members ofthis community.
As a young person, I’d also like to be an even fiercer advocate for young people at the city level. Not only would I advocate reform related to our university and students, but as someone who was born and raised in this community, I know what it’s like to be under 18 in Madison. I’d like to provide a new outlet for youth in our community who may not be able to vote, but have valid opinions regarding mental health, school safety, community engagement, and more. While Madison has an already unprecedented rate ofvoter turnout, I believe in reinvigorating young people below 18 to ensure this level of civic engagement continues for generations.
Finally, I’d like to connect with the already growing movement in the city to be climate-conscious in all policy-making. Not only should sustainability be prioritized, but every single piece of legislation put forward to the Common Council should be looked at through a lens of sustainability. I’d like to work with the city government on issues relating to the climate crisis–pulling my experiences in discussions with world leaders and leading figures in the climate movement at the UN Climate Summit. This city has the potential to be a worldwide model of how municipalities can act in the face of a global disaster, which is already impacting our community.
Do I plan to run for alderperson in 2020?:
I am not fully equipped to answer a question about a role I have not yet been able to experience, but as of today, it is not my intention to run in 2020. Being apati of the movement to elect Avra Reddy and uplifting those ideals has been my mission since I’ve been here. I only wish to continue that legacy of young progressives leading the fight for a better community.
Here are a few articles that mention my work in the community:
https://llisthmus.comlnews/news/wisconsin-youth-are-leading-activism-against-climate-changel
https://badgerherald.comlfeatures/2019110108/fresh-faced-and-fearful-young-new-faces-of-climate-activism-frustrated- with-Iack-of-political-actionl
I write to apply to fill the District 8 Aldermanic position. I have been a resident of District 8 and a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for 4 years. Overall, I believe my experiences and education have equipped me with the skills and knowledge of the Madison community to accurately reflect the residents of District 8 during this interim session.From building a coalition of city alders and students to convince University administration to issue free voter ID to students to working for the South Central Federation of Labor to increase engagement with young workers, my time as a resident has been defined by my engagement and service to the Madison community. As a current student at the La Follette School of Public Affairs, I am pursuing my Masters in Public Affairs with an emphasis on economic policy. Through taking coursework in State and Local Government Public Finance, I learned and investigated the intricacies of local government tax revenue, budgeting, and expenditures with an emphasis on Wisconsin. Additionally, the extensive coursework in policy analysis, cost-benefit analysis and program evaluation has equipped me with critical policy skills that will enable me to effectively serve the residents of District 8 during the budget process.
I have experience representing constituents. As an intern for Representative Chris Taylor, I responded to concerns from the residents of Madison and represented the Rep. Taylor’s voice and policy. I also communicated with the constituents of Milwaukee as an intern for Congresswoman Gwen Moore. As the Legislative Affairs Committee Chair for the Associated Students of Madison, I was elected by student council to represent students at the city, state and federal level and had to navigate accurately voicing the needs of the student body to legislators. I am well- equipped to amplify the voice of District 8 as the interim Alderwoman.
Because Avra was elected by the constituents of this district, my ultimate policy goal would be to accurately reflect Avra’s platform, all of which I adamantly believe in. In particular, I would encourage sustainability initiatives in the budget, including the watershed studies and testing for PFAS recommended in the Mayor’s budget. In addition to Avra’s platform, I am interested in diminishing the barriers to voting in the City for Madison and ensuring a balanced budget through using taxpayer dollars in an efficient and effective way. Lastly, I will stand with the strong and vital labor movement in Madison by protecting workers’ rights.
Overall, I am energized by the prospect of utilizing my skills and experiences to fill this position in a meaningful and effective way while representing the residents of District 8. I look forward to hearing from you regarding this position. I can be contacted at sallyarohrer@gmail.com or (414)882-0407.
Sincerely, Sally Rohrer
I was a freshman, living in Witte Dormitory, when Donald Trump was elected president. I remember watching in awe and disgust as some members of my floor cheered while others cried. When I learned that Trump won Wisconsin, I set out to make sure that it would not happen again. That December, my roommate Danielle Sklarew and I wrote, applied and received a grant from UW-Madison to teach after school classes on feminism to local middle schoolers. My hope is and was that educated young men and women would never vote against their own self-interests. Every week, I would bring in female role models from the Madison community and they would talk about themselves and what they do. (We did weekly themes like Women in Science, Women in Journalism, etc.)
We rolled out this program at Black Hawk Middle School, a school where over one third of the students are speaking English as a second language. It was here where I realized my true passion – helping Immigrants and Refugees. The following year, I worked as a resource navigator (social worker) at Wingra and North East clinics in Madison. This job was created as an answer to the question: why can’t a doctor prescribe food for an empty belly, a house to live in or heat in the winter? Doctors were noticing that patients would come in with a sickness that was not medical in nature and was, instead, caused by not having enough to eat or living on the street. This past year, I worked specifically with 15 non-English speaking patients at a time, helping them apply for food stamps, access job training and affordable housing and navigate infinite other social welfare programs.
It was during my time as a resource navigator that I became passionate about helping refugees. I had always known that I wanted to “do good,” but I felt through helping these recent immigrants and refugees that I had found my calling. I have since left my job as a resource navigator and am in grad school for International Public Affairs. I am focused on helping refugees and migrants on a national and international scale
I hope to serve the City of Madison as a citizen of Madison. In wake of recent events on campus, I want to make University of Wisconsin and the City of Madison a more inclusive place.
Specifically, I want to accomplish the following
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- Having campaigned for Avra, I would like to continue fighting for the issues that she championed: housing justice, sustainability, public safety, transit, and (of course) inclusion.
- As a resource navigator for (primarily) undocumented immigrants, I saw how detrimental mandatory-ID rules were at food pantries. (All food pantries in Madison mandate that the recipient must show ID in order to receive aid.) These rules serve no purpose and are likely the result of ignorance rather than intentional malice and discrimination. I would like to use my status as an alderman to encourage food pantries to move away from this practice and to put together (and publish) a list of pantries that will not ask for a form of ID. Instead, pantries may choose to look at a phone bill, tax statement or utility bill to prove that the individual lives in a certain district.
- I want to be a champion for students in my district and all undocumented immigrants and refugees in Madison (two distinct but vulnerable sections of the greater-Madison population.)
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Whether the applicant plans to run for alderperson in the Spring 2020 special election: No, I will not be running for election this April.
Does not include resume
Experience:
Graduated from UW-Madison in 2015 with a B.A in Political Science. After graduation, I Served as district 8 Alder from April of 2015 until April of 2019. During this time, I served on numerous committees including the Finance Committee, Landlord and Tenant Issues Committee, Committee on the Environment, Vending Oversight Committee, as well as several others over two terms. This experience gave me the knowledge of and comfort with the roles and responsibilities of an Alder, as well as a strong understanding of the issues facing the 8th District. Currently I work at the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance doing outreach work.
Why I am applying:
I am applying to fill this vacancy because I maintain the same strong commitment to service that drove me to run for the office itself four and two years ago, respectively. I care deeply about the 8th District, its citizens and this great city. As we head into what will be the first budget of a new administration, as well as the first of a new decade, I believe experience and comfort with the municipal budgeting process is essential. Furthermore, the appointee will not be afforded a true “orientation”, and therefore, prior experience with the City, it’s many processes, staff, and internal institutions will be of great importance.
What I hope to accomplish:
I don’t believe these short-term appointments are as much about new initiatives as they are about proper representation and responsiveness to constituents. My goals for this position are to provide the people of the 8th district with an Alder that can promptly and capably address neighborhood concerns and convey important information while simultaneously making informed decisions at committees and on the Council floor. Additionally, I would hope to increase the number of 8th District residents and young people in general serving on City Committees, which is something I believe all 8th District Alders should prioritize.
On running for election in April:
I will absolutely, positively, and unequivocally not appear on the next ballot for this seat.
