May 5th, 2024 Common Council Meeting: Supporting Our Students and 400 State Street Appeal

Dear friends and neighbors, 

I am writing today to share information about tonight's Common Council meeting at 6:30p. There are two things of importance: (1) Agenda Item 38, a resolution titled: "Supporting Student Organizers & Reaffirming Commitment to Peaceful Resolution" and (2) Agenda Item 5, appeal of the Plan Commission action on the demolition permit for 428-444 State Street. I want to give you all an update on both of these issues and make myself available for any additional comments. 

Supporting Student Organizers & Reaffirming Commitment to Peaceful Resolution

As some of you may know, Alders Rummel, Wehelie, and I wrote a resolution in response to the situation at Library Mall. The first version of the resolution received pushback from certain alders and members of the community. One of the concerns with the "therefore" clause about MPD action. The second concern was that certain aspects of the resolution seemed overly biased and was hurtful to Jewish community members. 

I want to be clear that it was never mine or my colleagues intent to cause harm. I recognize that the impact of the original language may have been triggering and I sincerely apologize for that. On my end, some of the resolution language was written under a strict 12p Wednesday deadline in which I had to scurry to finish the resolution, after witnessing police brutality on May 1st. So, I think some of the language was a reflection of my anger and relived trauma during that time. This is not an excuse, but hopefully an explanation. 

The substitute resolution does a much better job at centering the immediate issue and the goal of supporting students and call to action. The substitute resolution course-corrects by highlighting student organizers, the positive aspects of the community space they have created, while making specific calls to action on the UW Chancellor and condemning the Oct. 7th actions of Hamas and the Israeli government. 

From here, I am sure that there are things that things that people may disagree with and want changed. However, I hope that the resolution can gain support on the things we can and should agree on:

• Anti-semitism and islamophobia is never acceptable. 
• Hamas actions on Oct. 7th was deplorable. 
• The Israeli government indiscriminate war crimes in Gaza are also deplorable. 
• Hostages should be released. 
• Prisoners that are not convicted of any crime, especially minors, should be released. 
• We should always prioritize and protect free speech and free expression. 
• UW Administration's and UWPD's actions leading up to May 1st were ill-advised and did not lead to de-escalation and peaceful resolution. 

Upon agreement or at the very least mutual understanding of these things, we can have a more productive dialogue of next steps. 

Some of my colleagues have challenged what does the resolution do. We do not have authority over the chancellor or the university. We do not have authority over the actions of federal elected officials. However, we do have voice. We do have privilege as elected leaders. Whenever possible and necessary, we should use this voice to call for peace. So, what does this resolution do: 

1. Makes a specific call to action for the Chancellor. We should give voice to students that are indeed also Madison residents, who want to work in good faith with the Chancellor and UW administration. At this point the encampment is relatively peaceful and I am confident that there is a peaceful resolve that does not include police intervention. Calling for this resolve is influential and does make an impact. 
2. Support students. The Council does not get to take a back seat on issues that impact students, because they are also Madison residents. I would hope that the Chancellor would speak out against Council in an alternate universe where the encampment was in James Madison Park and MPD led a failed operation that merely led to escalation and the brutal treatments towards students and faculty. More importantly, student organizers did an amazing job at creating a space for community building and shared learning. We should celebrate this. 
3. Bring students to the table on issues impacting local government. To some students, this is the first time that they ever heard of the term "public comment". By bringing them to the table on an issue that is deeply important to them, we are giving them voice. It is our express duty as elected officials to uplift the voices of all residents, especially those that are often underserved. 

Appeal of the Plan Commission action on the demolition permit for 428-444 State Street

This is fairly straightforward. I am moving referral of the appeal to the May 21st meeting to allow for JD McCormick to finish their structural engineer report, which is vital information when discussing the demolition permit. 

I look forward to tonight's council meeting and hope to see you there.