Because they think they can do better?
I kinda had to laugh about the reasons current council members are suggesting about why there are so many candidates this year . . . or why they are running.
MORE POLITICAL AWARENESS WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION?
“There seems to be a little more interest than in previous years,” says Clear. “I don’t really know what to attribute that to. It might be that there’s a little more political awareness after the presidential election.” Isthmus
Um, that happens every other election, so that doesn’t make sense, especially since the last election didn’t have the same excitement as 4 years ago . . .
NEW FACES WILL BE JUST LIKE US
“There will be new faces,” said council President Pro Tem Chris Schmidt, who is unopposed in the 11th District. “But my suspicion is the (ideological) balance and momentum will be maintained.” State Journal
Oh great goodness I hope not! I hope we found some candidates that will have a backbone. And have some ideals that go beyond funding the Overture and Edgewater and caretaking for their districts. I hope we have some people running for office that have a vision for the city AND a passion for their neighborhoods they come from AND a passion for transparency in government instead of cutting backroom deals so they can be more like the county board. I hope they care about things like historic preservation, targeted community services, reasonable and measured TIF and city assistance for projects that are driven by community values, ethics and transparency, affordable housing, reasonable transportation plans, support for Madison Metro, etc etc etc. I hope it is a council that takes its head out of the sand and does something innovative.
I LOVE THE JOB!
Interest in the council was such that even incumbent Lauren Cnare, who had decided to step down from the council, changed her mind last week and filed to run for re-election. Cnare says she was disappointed that only one person, Barbara Davis, decided to run for her seat.
“I love this job, it’s hard to let go,” Cnare says, adding. “It’s awfully unusual to have an open seat and only one person running. It’s not even a race. Usually there are three or four people wanting to run.” Isthmus
Hmmmm . . . This last year or year and a half of the council was painful to watch – they did a lot of navel gazing and complaining about how hard they job was and really didn’t accomplish much except responding to others . . . I think I already said this, but I’m looking for vision to move things forward, not just respond to developers and the business community and the great joy of having a public job. I’m looking for someone that will have some initiative and show some leadership in some direction besides cheerleading for the business community and loving the job they have been doing. I haven’t been loving it. I’m looking for more. Where is the passion? The creativity? The initiative?
NAME ONE?
Ugh. I know Tom Powell and Todd Jarrell and Austin King and I and even Zach Brandon and others shook things up a bit and pissed people off cuz we had our own ideas about how the city should be run and didn’t just kowtow to the mayor. Win or lose on issues, I think the city was better for it. When I think of the council in the last 2 years, I can’t think of an initiative that any alder brought forward that really made a difference for the city as a whole that wasn’t a rehash of an old idea or carrying water for the business community. And you can’t blame the tough budget, because things like Mininmum Wage, Phosphorus Ban, IZ, Smoking Ban, Section 8 and even Scratchiti or other public safety issues weren’t budget items (that was a random list and I’m sure I left some good ones out), they were citywide policy issues. Maybe I’m being harsh? Can you name one citywide visionary issue this last council worked on? I’d like to be proven wrong.
Yeah, maybe people are running because they think they can do better and aren’t happy with the way things are and hopefully a few of them have some new big ideas . . . our city deserves better than just care taking for your district or people in office because they love the job. I hope to see some vision and to be inspired.
