Meetings and Updates Week of Nov 18

• City Meetings:
  • Finance Committee 11/18
  • Plan Commission 11/18
  • Transportation Commission 11/20
• Investigation of Allegations Against an Alder, Reports Released
• Reminder: South Stoughton Road Study Input Meeting with WisDOT 11/19
• Information About a Pilot Program for Event and Commuter Parking Charges at Some City Parks
• Events and Announcements

Winter Parking Rules: Alternate side parking is in effect until March 15, 2025. Sign up for daily alternate side parking reminders by text.

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.

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee meeting will take place on Monday, November 18, at 4:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include supporting four affordable housing development projects and implementing neighborhood improvement projects identified in the South Madison Plan and Hawthorne-Truax Neighborhood plan.

• Meeting Details
• Meeting Agenda
• Register for Public Comment
• Watch Online

Plan Commission

The Plan Commission meeting will take place on Monday, November 18, at 5:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include development-related requests (none in District 3).

• Meeting Details
• Meeting Agenda
• Register for Public Comment
• Watch Online

Transportation Commission

The Transportation Commission meeting will take place on Wednesday, November 20, at 5:00 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include a plan to add a bus charging station along Northport Drive on the North Side to charge Rapid Route B electric busses, a discussion of e-bike speed policy on shared-use paths because newer “class 3” e-bikes can go faster than the current 25 mph path speed limit in Madison, and a discussion about potentially prohibiting bikes from using sidewalks in Madison (same presentation link as the previous item).

• 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.

Investigation of Allegations Against an Alder, Reports Released

Heads up: this section mentions allegations of domestic violence, intimidation, and harassment.

You may remember news coverage last spring of allegations against District 18 Alder Charles Myadze by multiple women in the community, which the Alder denied. That news led to three other women to filing complaints with the City against the Alder based on allegations of his conduct toward them, including allegations during his time as an elected alder. The City of Madison hired a law firm to investigate those complaints over the summer and fall. The investigator examined each complaint against relevant laws and the City’s rules for conduct. This Madison 365 news article describes those reports and the investigator’s findings. Here is the Common Council President’s statement on the investigation. In a blog post on Thursday, District 2 Alder Juliana Bennett released a blog post identifying herself as one of the complainants and bravely sharing her side of the story. Then, on the morning of Friday Nov 15th, Madison 365 published another article (warning: this one is hard to read) based on an interview with former MMSD School Board President, former Deputy Mayor, and former mayoral candidate Gloria Reyes who shared her own story about her experience with the Alder.

Abuse and intimidation have no place in public or private life. Madison residents expect and deserve the highest standard of conduct from their elected representatives. Residents must be able to trust that they will be safe and respected when they reach out to their alder. Beyond the ballot box, accountability for elected officials is not straightforward. I’m taking this situation very seriously and I do not think this is the end of this story.

If you or someone you know feels unsafe in a relationship, help is available here in Madison through Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS). Anyone can reach out to them at (608) 251-4445 or text (608) 420-4638.

Reminder: South Stoughton Road Study Input Meeting with WisDOT on Nov 19

As a reminder, WisDOT is hosting a Public Involvement Meeting THIS TUESDAY, November 19 to discuss and gather feedback on the US 51 (Stoughton Road) South Corridor study. The city of Madison will also have a representative available to provide information on the city's Southeast Area Plan. 

The South Stoughton Road study covers the part of the road south of Highway 30 and includes the intersections and on/off ramps at Milwaukee Street and Cottage Grove Road in District 3. No construction is yet scheduled. The study is intended to make recommendations to update and redesign the highway and its intersections and to rethink details like speed limits, the number of lanes, potential new ways to cross Stoughton Road and reconnect neighborhoods, and how well (or poorly) other modes of transportation are accommodated by South Stoughton Road or crossing South Stoughton Road.

This is a great opportunity for residents to share their thoughts with WisDOT about what they do and don’t like about the current configuration of South Stoughton Road or to ask questions. I hope to see you there!

• Where: La Follette High School
• When: Tuesday, November 19th at 5:30pm-7:00pm

WisDOT also invites comments and suggestions related to this study in their online commenting tool, which you can access at this link: comment now.

Information About a Pilot Program for Event and Commuter Parking Charges at Some City Parks

You may have seen news recently that the 2025 City Budget authorizes a pilot program for Madison Parks to explore charging fees to park at some City parks. The idea came from Madison Parks’ 5% cut scenarios during the preparation of the 2025 Operating Budget as a potential strategy to address part of the structural deficit. This pilot program is not intended to charge Madison residents for their use of our public parks, but rather to explore charging fees for special events like home-field Badger games or for limited, designated parking spaces for commuters. Here is how Madison Parks describes the scope of the pilot program: 

"Initial ideas for the pilot program suggest charging to park a vehicle during home Badger football games, in the north lot of Vilas Park, while continuing to provide the south lot as free three-hour parking.  Other concepts include fee-based parking for a limited number of reserved commuter parking stalls during peak hours in popular lots such as Garner, Olin or Burr Jones. This concept allows park visitors plenty of free parking to visit a park throughout the day. It is unlikely that all of these concepts will be a part of the experiment in 2025, but these and other ideas will be considered by the Board of Park Commissioners.  As the pilot program takes shape, we welcome and encourage community feedback."

Any proposal to implement this pilot program will be reviewed by the Board of Park Commissioners, which will include an opportunity for residents to provide comments and input. I will watch for this on the Board’s agendas and will share more information in future weekly blog posts.

Events and Announcements