D6 Items of Interest Week of March 24, 2025

Tuesday March 25 is my last Council meeting as your alder. On April 15th at noon there will be a meeting to say goodbye to departing alders that will include honoring resolutions and then a swearing in of the new cohort of alders and election of Council leadership. The noon meeting will be followed by their first Council meeting at 6:30p. Davy Mayer will be the next D6 alder, he is running unopposed. I have been sharing information with him since December. He brings lots of neighborhood experience with him.

There are a couple of D6 items on Tuesday’s Council agenda: the landmark nomination of the Benjamin and Amy Butts House on 633 E Johnson and the adoption of the Brayton Lot/Block 113 Request for Proposals. I am also supportive of the request to reconsider item 52. 87044 Amending or repealing various sections in Chapters 8, 10 and 33 of the Madison General Ordinances related to reorganization of City Boards, Commissions and Committees. I have a lot more to say later in the blog about my reasons why we should rescind the decision to eliminate the Public Safety Review Commission. I am also sponsoring 11. 87623 Opposing Social Security Administration office closures and other cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. I was inspired to act after attending a talk last week by Jessica LaPointe, President of AFGE Local 220. I hope she and some of her fellow federal workers will be able to speak to the Council.

There are two upcoming neighborhood meetings about redevelopment proposals – one in First Settlement and the other across the street in Tenney Lapham- basically a block apart. Lots going on in that corner of the district.

Join me on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, at 6:30pm for a virtual neighborhood meeting to hear more about the Salvation Army’s revised plans for the women’s and family shelter at 630 E Washington. In 2019, the Salvation Army received approval from the City to demolish the existing shelter at 630 E Washington Ave and build a new shelter and an affordable housing project. The housing project proceeded to completion and occupancy, and the Salvation Army is now proposing to move forward with revised plans for the shelter along E Washington, which will be built in two phases.

You will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback. You will receive login information after registering at www.cityofmadison.com/MeetingApril2EWashington.

Join me on Thursday April 3 at 6:30p for a virtual neighborhood meeting to hear about Bear Development LLC’s proposal to redevelop the property at 501 E. Washington Avenue, formerly Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. The existing two-story building would demolished, and a new, seven-story multifamily building would be constructed. The new building would consist of 223 apartments, comprised of 12 studio, 184 one-bedroom and 27 two-bedroom units. Current parking plans would include 68 stalls in a lower-level garage.

You will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback. You will receive login information after registering at www.cityofmadison.com/MeetingApril3EWashington.

Boards, Commissions, and Committee Meetings

Note: This is not a complete list of meetings for this upcoming week. All meetings and their details can be found at the Meeting Schedule page.

• Sustainable Madison Committee meeting will take place on Monday, March 24, at 4:30p in a virtual format. Agenda items include

  3. 87600 Update from Dane County on their Sustainability Efforts Climate Action Across Dane County

• Common Council: The Common Council meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 25, at 6:30 p.m. in hybrid format. Agenda items include a briefing on State Legislature Affairs from the Government Affairs Team.

  2. 87564 Commemorating the 55th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, 2025, to proclaim April 26, 2025 as Earth Day Challenge Day, and to endorse and encourage participation in the cleanup events at City of Madison parks.

  3. 87620 Declaring March 31, 2025, to be Transgender Day of Visibility in the City of Madison.

  On June 8, 2023, the City of Madison raised the trans flag at the Madison Municipal Building for the first time, the flag flew for a week. Also in June of 2023, the City of Madison declared itself as a sanctuary for trans and nonbinary individuals, stating a commitment to protecting transgender and nonbinary individuals and stating that access to health care is a fundamental right and all people in Madison and the State of Wisconsin should have access to all health care, including gender affirming care.  Transgender Day of Visibility additionally acknowledges the struggles that many trans people face, such as poverty, discrimination, and violence. 

  There has been an intensifying backlash towards trans people in recent years, as evidenced by direct physical violence as well as legislative measures, seen in the 533 anti-LBGTQ+ bills proposed throughout state legislatures in 2024, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Fourteen of these anti-LGBTQ+ bills were from the Wisconsin State Legislature, all of which were successfully defeated, though multiple vetoes by Governor Tony Evers. The defeat of these bills is just one example of the resistance this discrimination has been met with and shows the strength and resilience of the trans community and their allies.

  5. 87447 Presentation by Government Affairs Team: Briefing on State Legislative Affairs

7. 87159 Approving a landmark nomination of the property located at 633 E Johnson Street as the Benjamin and Amy Butts House (District 6)

From the staff report: The property at 633 E Johnson Street is proposed for landmark designation and includes a residential structure built in 1857, with additions in 1894, 1908, and 1942. The property is being designated for its associations with cultural and social history under Criterion A related to Madison’s African-American history, and under Criterion B for this property’s association with Benjamin and Amy Butts. The period of significance is 1892-1907, when the Butts family lived at this home. The nomination was funded by the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation with the support of the property owner.

11. 87623 Opposing Social Security Administration office closures and other cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL TO ADOPT UNDER SUSPENSION OF MGO 2.055

34. 87419 Approving the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the redevelopment of Block 113, located at 1 South Butler Street (the “Property”) and establishing a process for the review of responses to the RFP and selection of a development team for the Property. (District 6) Sponsors: Satya V. Rhodes-Conway, Marsha A. Rummel And Michael E. Verveer

On the Brayton Lot/Block 113 project page, you can access the RFP, see the adopted plans for the block since the 1990s, find links to public meetings and surveys from 2023 that informed the RFP, and subscribe to an email alert list. Since the city owns the entire block, this will be a major city project with a lot more process to come. Stay tuned.

51. 87451 Adopting the “2024 State Street Pedestrian Mall Experiment Report” State Street Report

52. 87044 Amending or repealing various sections in Chapters 8, 10 and 33 of the Madison General Ordinances related to reorganization of City Boards, Commissions and Committees

Reconsideration of Legislative File No. 87044 was requested by Alder Wehelie. An alder who is absent is entitled to seek reconsideration at the next meeting.

DRAFTER’S ANALYSIS:  The report of the City’s Task Force on Government Structure recommended that the City reduce and consolidate its Boards, Commissions and Committees in order to create efficiencies and promote accountability. This ordinance eliminates the Downtown Coordinating Committee, the Community Development Division’s Conference Committee, the Public Safety Review Committee, and the Ho-Chunk City of Madison Coordinating Committee. It also consolidates the responsibilities of the Commission on Aging, the Early Childhood Education Committee, and the Community Services Committee into a new Community Resources Committee. It also alters the membership of the Community Development Block Grant Committee...(and more).

At the March 4 Council meeting, I made the following amendment to 87044 “Motion to strike: 12. Section 33.22 entitled “Public Safety Review Committee” of the Madison General Ordinances is repealed”. I wanted to keep the Public Safety Review Committee as a city committee for the reasons I go into below. My motion failed 10-8 with two members absent including Alder Wehelie who is now requesting reconsideration.

At the Council meeting, the underlying amendment passed that included the repeal of the PSRC, the reorganization of several other committees and an amendment that would delay the elimination of the Downtown Coordinating Committee.

If the Council votes to reconsider on Tuesday, I hope to revisit the ordinance changes and move to rescind the elimination of the PSRC. If you have thoughts you would like to share with the Council, please send them to allalders@cityofmadison.com.

Here is what the Council and the city would lose with the elimination of the PSRC:

33.22 (4) Duties. The work of the Public Safety Review Committee shall be advisory to the Mayor and the Common Council to assist them in the performance of their statutory duties regarding the police and fire departments. The role of the Public Safety Review Committee shall in no way interfere with the lawfully prescribed powers and duties of the Common Council, the Police and Fire Commission, the Mayor, or the Chiefs of the respective Police or Fire Departments. The Public Safety Review Committee may, in the performance of its duties: (a) Review service priorities and capital budget priorities of the Police and Fire departments; (b) Serve as liaison between the community and the City on public safety issues; (c) Review annually and make recommendations to the Mayor and the Common Council regarding the annual work plans and long-range goals of the departments.

The staff report recommends: Dissolve the Public Safety Review Committee. There is some overlap in scope and activities with the Police Civilian Oversight Board and the Board of Health (violence prevention work). Additionally, the current and previous Common Councils have opted to make public safety policy decisions in other venues, such as with their own regular reports from Police and Fire and through the creation of temporary committees to consider new policies, such as with body-worn cameras. 

If the PSRC is eliminated, neither of the two remaining public safety committees – the Police and Fire Commission (MGO 33.06) or the Police Civilian Oversight Board (MGO 5.20) – have alders who serve on them and the PSRC’s legislative duties are not covered by the PFC and only partially addressed by the PCOB.

The PFC’s power and authority derives from Wis State Statute Sec 62.13 but our local enabling legislation does not give the PFC the ability under Sec 62.13 (6) to organize and supervise police and fire services, to contract for and purchase supplies and apparatus, or to audit bills, claims and expenses before submission to the City treasurer for payment. The PFC is mainly a personnel body that hires/fires and adjudicates complaints. According to the city’s website: The Police and Fire Commission is an independent statutory body overseeing the hiring, promotion, discipline, and terminations of police and fire personnel in the City of Madison. The 5 commissioners are appointed by the mayor to staggered five year terms. The purpose of having an independent commission is to separate police and fire staffing matters from local politics.

The PCOB only deals with MPD, not the Madison Fire Dept. While it does serve as a liaison to the community and could recommend policies, evaluate standard operating procedures and review disciplinary decisions of the PFC regarding police officers, PCOB does not currently have the authority to review operating or capital budgets or the work plans of MPD and has no oversight over the Fire Dept. It has a unique community-based appointment structure that was created explicitly to exclude alders from participating.

If the PSRC is eliminated, the Council and the public would lose the accountability and oversight we currently have with three alders and six community residents who can review service and capital budget priorities, review annual work plans and long-term policy goals of these agencies as well as make recommendations about other legislation and resolutions referred to them.

According to the 2025 Budget Outlook, Public Safety & Health accounts for the largest share of the city’s budget ($172.4 million; 42.5%) with Police and Fire accounting for the majority of these costs. There is a public interest in how we fund agencies and services in this era of tight operating budgets. The fallout from the post 2020 uprising after the police killing of George Floyd created intense public conversations from all points of view about how communities want to be policed.

Effective in July of 2024, the Wis State legislature also weighed in to create penalties that would limit efforts to ‘defund the police’. There is now an annual certification report to the Department of Revenue that requires that the municipality has maintained a level of law enforcement that is at least equivalent to that provided in the municipality in the previous year. The certifications must include a statement from the person in charge of providing law enforcement that certifies that any of the following has been maintained at a level at least equivalent to the previous year:

• Moneys raised by tax levy and expended for employment costs of law enforcement officers.
• The percentage of the total moneys raised by tax levy that is expended for employment costs of law enforcement officers.
• The number of full-time equivalent law enforcement officers employed by or assigned to the municipality, not including officers whose positions are funded by state or federal grants.

If the municipality fails to file the certification report, a penalty of a 15 percent reduction in a municipality’s shared revenue will be applied for failing to do so.

The PSRC could receive and review the maintenance of effort certification report as part of its duties.

Some alders expressed concern that the PSRC has struggled with making quorum, but is that a sufficient reason to eliminate the financial oversight function of this committee that includes members of the public who are selected as subject matter experts? In the Committee Feedback to 87044, PSRC members reported “While there is value in avoiding redundancies, this committee provides public access and participation in a forum specific to public safety issues, and with specific expertise. Important not to lose that. The committee is functioning well and could take on more work beyond what it currently focuses on. If it were enabled to do so, the work may not be limited to items where there is overlap with the Council and Finance Committee.”  The committee has already been inactivated on the city website but a review of the February minutes indicates no vacancies on the committee and that quorum was met. Without the PSRC, the main fiscal oversight is the city’s Finance Committee which has no resident members and the Common Council during budget deliberations. It is not clear to me that police and fire department work plans would be reviewed by any policy body without the PSRC.

The city’s adoption of a public health approach to violence in 2017 is something that the Council pushed for in conjunction with other initiatives around changes to police policies and procedures. The public health approach to violence is a vital part of the package of holistic services provided by the city that include Public Health, MPD, MFD and the CARES team, Community Development, our nonprofit partners, the Mayor and Common Council and city committees. The negative impacts of COVID pushed us to step up the violence prevention initiative and Public Health staff created the 2021 Roadmap to Reducing Violence  Now community care services funded by grants from the Violence Prevention Unit add incredible value to this array of services. In addition, the Board of Health’s Violence Prevention staff team collects data and some of that information may overlap with the Police Chief’s quarterly reports to the Council. Both provide an important collection of data for policy makers including on the PSRC. Temporary committees or ad hoc reports to the Council may be useful as needed but are not a substitute for a robust and accountable city committee that reviews the police and fire departments, just as the Board of Public Heath reviews violence prevention efforts.

INTRODUCTION OF NEW BUSINESS FOR REFERRAL WITHOUT DEBATE

69. 87607 Authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute a grant agreement with the Community Development Authority of the City of Madison providing up to $10 million in grant funds from TID 48 for redevelopment of the Triangle. (District 13) Sponsors: Tag Evers Referred for Introduction Finance Committee (4/7/25), Common Council (4/15/25)

Fiscal Note: The proposed resolution authorizes the execution of a grant agreement between the City of Madison and the CDA providing up to $10.0 million in grant funds from TID 48 for redevelopment of the Triangle Redevelopment project (Munis project #14696). CDA Redevelopment's 2024 and 2025 Adopted Capital Budgets included TID 48-supported non-General Fund GO borrowing for the Triangle Redevelopment project: the 2024 Adopted Capital Budget (legislative file 80726) authorized $5.0 million in non-general fund GO borrowing, and the 2025 Adopted Capital Budget (legislative file 84843) authorized an additional $5.0 million in non-general fund GO borrowing. The project plan for TID 48 as amended via legislative file 83653 includes $10.0 million in grant funding to the CDA for the Triangle Redevelopment project. No additional City appropriation required.

Sometime later this year, the Finance Committee and Economic Development staff will begin reviewing our TIF policy with the goal of making it easier to use for affordable housing projects. Stay tuned. It looks like strategic use of the CDA as developer or as a pass through could be an aspect of an enhanced policy. 

Currently, TIF staff look at the projected growth in increment to judge the risk of investing in private projects. Affordable housing projects don’t create as much increment in new real estate value as market rate housing (and in some cases may be tax exempt) and our TIF policy sets a loan limit of under 55% of the Net Present Value of the increment generated by the project. The City TIF loan can go higher than 55% but requires Finance Committee and Council approval of an exception. Also, affordable housing developers use of tax credit financing adds another layer of complexity to the calculations of the state mandated ‘but for’ test. Another recent affordable housing project  87158 in University Research Park also has an elevated role for the CDA. See my 2/17/25 blog for more details and a link to our TIF policy documents
 

Meeting Agenda

• Register for Public Comment
• Watch Online

If you would like more information about becoming a member of a City board, commission, or committee, please visit the page linked here.

Public Information Meetings (PIM’s)

• Davidson Street, Park Court, Maher Avenue, and Gary Street Reconstruction, Wednesday, March 26: A public information meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., March 26, 2025, via Zoom. Registration prior is required.
• Sidewalk Replacement Program: District 20, Thursday, March 27: Bids for public works contracts for sidewalk repair and replacement within Alder Districts 10 and 20 have been received and opened. A public information meeting is scheduled for District 20 sidewalk repairs at 5:30 p.m., March 27, 2025, via Zoom.  Registration prior is required.

Announcements and News Releases

• How to Get Your Brush Collected in 2025: Brush collection for 2025 will start soon. Here’s what you need to do so Streets Division crews can collect the brush you made by trimming your trees, shrubs, or bushes:… [posted March 21, 2025]
• Update: Street Closure - East Wilson Street April 2 to mid-June: Starting Tuesday, April 2, East Wilson Street will be fully closed between S Pinckney Street and King Street for the continuation of the East Wilson Street reconstruction project. A detour will be in place to send westbound Wilson Street traffic to…[posted March 21, 2025]
• Update: Street Closure - 100 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard at Doty Street: Starting Wednesday, April 2, R.G Huston will close the 100 block of Martin Luther King Jr Blvd at Doty Street to repair concrete pavement within the intersection.  The street will reopen the following Wednesday, April 9. See attached map… [posted March 21, 2025]
• How to Track Your Absentee Ballot: The City of Madison Clerk's Office has issued absentee ballots to 33,579 voters for the April 1 election. So far, 13,535 have been returned to be counted. More than 6,500 voters have cast ballots via in-person absentee voting.  [posted March 21, 2025]
• Madison Arts Commission Seeks Artist for Landscape Mural at New Public Market: The City of Madison and the Madison Arts Commission are looking for an artist to design a vibrant native landscape mural for the highly-anticipated Madison Public Market. [posted March 20, 2025]
• Public Test of Election Equipment on Saturday :  The public is invited to observe the City of Madison public test of election equipment this Saturday. The Clerk's Office intentionally schedules the public test on the weekend to make it accessible for the community. [posted March 20, 2025]
• Local Museums and Libraries Rally Support for the Institute of Museum and Library Services after Recent Executive Order: MADISON, WI—President Trump issued an executive order Friday night that would gut the only federal agency dedicated to supporting American museums and libraries. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is a government agency that provides critical funding to museums and libraries in all 50 states. [posted March 19, 2025]
• In-Person Absentee Voting Begins Today : In-person absentee voting for the April 1 election begins today. [posted March 18, 2025]
• Mail It Back Monday – Make Sure Your Absentee Counts : The City of Madison Clerk’s Office has issued absentee ballots to 24,492 voters for the April 1 election. Only 806 of those absentees have been returned to the Clerk’s Office. [posted March 17, 2025]
• TetraPAKMAN’s 'Wake Up!' Art Installation Brings Data into Focus on the Windows of Madison Public Library's Central Library: MADISON, WI – The windows of Central Library will display the next iteration of Wake Up!, an ongoing project by current Bubbler artist-in-residence, TetraPAKMAN. The large-scale art exhibition was installed on the first and second floor windows of Central Library facing Fairchild, Henry and Mifflin Streets on Saturday, March 15 and will remain in place through Tuesday, April 22nd to coincide with Earth Day. [posted March 17, 2025]

Please visit the City news webpage to find additional news and announcements and to subscribe to receive notification of news releases as they are posted.

Events

• Hospitalized Absentee Voting Begins Today, Tuesday, March 25: Voters who are hospitalized may appoint an agent(opens in a new window) to pick up their absentee ballot from the City Clerk's Office, beginning today.
• Craft with Kids, Wednesday, March 26 (this event occurs on multiple dates): Be a part of this fun and rewarding intergenerational program. Once a month make crafts and have fun with a local preschool class! All you have to do is show up. If interested, please submit a volunteer application.
• Community Dinner, Sunday, March 30: Join Madison Parks at the Warner Park Community Recreation Center for a free community dinner! This event is free and open to the public.

Additional upcoming events can also be found on the City events calendar.