Happy 4th of July

And for your reading enjoyment:
Progressives Take Back the Flag

Happy 4th of July (regardless of your political persuasion)!

Dane County RTA: Movement

Before Governor Doyle signed the budget, he vetoed the part of the provision establishing the Dane County Regional Transit Authority (RTA) that required a binding referendum on the tax to pay for it. Kind of a surprise there since the Dane County leadership has repeatedly said that they are going to hold a referendum no matter what.

Dane County leaders said they’re committed to letting voters decide whether to adopt a half-cent sales tax for regional transportation improvements — even though Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed a binding referendum on the tax.

So the Governor vetoes the provision, but the net effect is going to be nothing if the referendum is held anyways. I'm not sure what the point of the veto was, unless it was a just a point of principal. In addition, the Governor also vetoed the provision that would allow some of the RTA money to be used on roads:

Doyle also vetoed language lawmakers agreed to that would have allowed Dane County to spend up to 25 percent of any sales tax generated by the RTA on roads.

This one I actually like. RTA money should be used for RTA projects. We already have funding for highways and the like (at least when it doesn't get raided to pay for something else). As for the larger issue of the RTA, it's hard to say whether it's a good thing or not, since there isn't a solid proposal. It will likely include commuter rail and buses, and the rail line will probably go between at least downtown Madison and Middleton and somewhere east of the city (initially). But beyond that, it's all vapor. Who knows what it could be? Of course, this has not stopped the Dane County Republican party from opposing it. How can you oppose something before you even know the proposal? Commuter rail has working examples all over the world. If there is a good proposal, it's worth supporting.

Commuter rail has a lot of potential to alleviate traffic congestion (we can't road build our way out of traffic jams, just look at LA), to drive commerce, and to provide a clean way of travel (clean air! Yay!). But what would a good RTA plan look like? Here is what I think would make a good plan (regardless of the technology used to move people):

1. It gets people where they want to go (work or entertainment): Yeah, I know, this is something very obvious; however, sometimes, I'm not convinced that this is always the case with Madison Metro. This is priority #1 for express buses or commuter rail.

2. Fast and reasonably priced: So if point 1 is addressed, the next step is to make sure it's fast and has a decent price for riding. These things are critical to the success of any transportation system.

3. It needs to fit in with other modes of transportation: It should go to the airport and it should hook into any area Amtrak stations.

4. It needs to have a commuter rail line that goes from Middleton to Downtown Madison to the Dane County Airport and to Sun Prairie: All these locations are critical for the first three points. This route integrates places people want to go, with other modes of transportation. The line can't stop in the Town of Burke (there could certainly be a stop there), but it needs to go all the way to Sun Prairie, because that is where the people are:

But Sun Prairie Mayor Joe Chase said the problem isn't the idea of the commuter rail. The problem, he said, is that it hasn't been well thought out. He said the stopping point would be two miles away from Sun Prairie in the town of Burke.

So once you get to the station, you' re still a bus, taxi or good old walk away from downtown Sun Prairie, Chase said.

5. There needs to be strong oversight of the RTA. If we're going to spend the money and if it's going to be the next big transportation thing, there needs to be strong oversight from the RTA board. Any big project has the potential to fail, so there needs to be an account of what the RTA does and where and how the money is spent.

6. There needs to be something for the cities and towns outside of the initial commuter rail area. This needs to either be express bus lines or promises of future expansion of the rail line or both.

7. Security/Cleanliness: Something I really like about the Metro system in Washington, DC is how it's very clean. Eating on the subway carries a big fine and because it's located in the nation's capital, there is decent security too. Not sure what the fines should look like for littering or eating, or which law enforcement body should have authority (depends on the locale? The sheriff?), but it needs to be part of the plan.

8. No trolley: Seriously, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's trolley plan was/is a bad idea. It would detract from the Madison bus system, which already works well downtown. The trolley tracks would rip up the streets downtown, narrow the streets considerably and potentially interfere with bicycle traffic (just try getting over those rails). And it would cost a lot of money to do all the a fore mentioned things, none of which are very good. This idea, hopefully, is not going to be raised any time in the near future, but since it was a 'big thing' a little while ago, it bears mentioning that it is still a bad idea.

As previously stated, there isn't a plan ready right now. And fall of 2010 is the earliest there would be a referendum. But it's good to start thinking of the plan now. The Dane County Republican party certainly is.

4-Year-Old Kindergarten Advocacy help needed Now (you have 2 days to help)

Just passing along a very important message.

The Conference Committee [Wisconsin legislature] report scaled the 4K kindergarten grant program back to $1.5 million (current law is $3 million in BOTH years of the biennium).

We need help contacting the governor urging a veto of the 4K modifications made by the Legislature to bring the program back to CURRENT LAW ($3M in each year of the biennium).

As the Governor will probably sign the budget on Monday to make the deadline to ensure federal funds, there is little time to make our case.

Please contact the Governor's office, 266-1212, or e-mail, governor@wisconsin.gov requesting a veto of the 4K modifications to bring the grant program back to current law.

Thanks for your efforts on this issue. We appreciate your help.

Usefulness, Underwear Debate, and Plans

So like I said before, I live on the far West side of Madison and drive through the Meadowood neighborhood on the way to work. And the last couple days, I have seen a lot of squad cars (like 5 or 6 on Raymond RD on Weds alone). Looks like the Madison police department is active and working on the issues in the neighborhood. Not that I had any reason to believe otherwise, but you know, seeing is believing. And really, like I've said before, there are some problems there, but the problems are not beyond the ability of Madison to handle (or at least, they shouldn't be).

Also, you might want to watch your speed on Raymond RD too...(Just a helpful tip from your friendly blogger).

In other good news, the Southwest Community Farmer's Market had a successful launch. Great to see another farmer's market in Madison, and a great reminder that it's not all gloom and doom on the Southwest side. I didn't get a chance to check it out, but I want to stop by and see how it is next week.

Oh yeah, you can become a fan of the Southwest Community Farmer's Market on Facebook, if you are in to such things.

Underwear Debate Rages On

Conservative blogger David Blaska is still fiercely defending his proposal for the police department to start enforcing respectable styles of dress (aka the no visible underwear policy) as an alleged anti-crime measure. He has even found an ordinance that he thinks will give the police the leverage they need to get started. If the Madison police department does start up an underwear enforcement unit, I hope they borrow the BearCat, an armored swat team vehicle, from the Dane County sheriffs department. Here's a story about the BearCat, go check it out, I'll wait. There? Doesn't that vehicle look awesome? If you're going to waste police resources, you might as well just go all out.

Side Note: Also, in the midst of Mr. Blaska's defense, he aims criticism at this blog (Forward Our Motto FYI, in case you just randomly wandered here) for noting the tremendous waste of police resources his idea would waste (really, this is a waste of police time). The Sconz, which also offered some criticism of Mr. Blaska's proposals, also gets some Blaska criticism for "unintelligent" ideas, which undoubtedly come straight out of the "hard left."

Dustin Beilke also mockingly offers helpful diagram on the appropriate level your pants should be.

The bottom line: There's a lot of other, more useful, work for the community to do. Look at this case for a moment, an 11, 13, and 8 (!) year-old get together to rob a shoe store on S Gammon. That is a messed up story.

On the bright side, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz has issued his anti-crime plan (thoughts on that later). It's always good to have a plan. The debate rolls on, and it's good to see.

Wrong State! Or Greater Wisconsin?

Scott Walker, the Milwaukee County Executive and Republican candidate for governor of Wisconsin, is on a tour to promote Milwaukee tourism. Some cynics and critics have accused him of using this tour to promote himself and his run for governor. So, as you might have guessed, this is a highly politicized tour, whether Mr. Walker wants it that way or no. Naturally his itinerary is being inspected and Mr. Walker is drawing some flack because he is staying in Duluth, MN, which is not Wisconsin. Some say, if Mr. Walker wants to be governor of Wisconsin, he should be spending money in Wisconsin, especially since Duluth is like 5 minutes from Superior, WI. However, Mr. Walker responds:

He scoffed at the criticism during a break from his trip at midday. He chose to stay in Duluth in order to preach Milwaukee tourism to Duluth media outlets, Walker said.

"We want people from Minnesota coming down" to visit Milwaukee, he said.

That excuse doesn't wash with me because he could have stayed in Superior, and driven in to Duluth and then gotten ahold of the MN media. And if he was looking at a good place to promote Wisconsin tourism, the Twin Cities area would be much better since there are a lot more people there.

The only excuse that would work for me is if Walker was making a political statement that Duluth should be part of Wisconsin (or Greater Wisconsin, if you will). And of course, Duluth is a very fine city and it would be an excellent addition to Wisconsin. I mean, it's right next to Superior. I don't think Mr. Walker was making a political statement though, which means he should have more carefully checked his itinery.

(And don't get me started on the Upper Peninsula. The UP should clearly be part of Wisconsin as well, it's connected for Pete's sake! Look what those Michigan politicians did to Detroit. I think that maybe if they had a little less state to look after, they could do a little better job dealing with what's left.)

Choices

There was shooting, no one killed, at Theresa Terrace and Hammersley Road. There was a write up here.

Conservative commentator extraordinaire, David Blaska, is still at it. He's become prolific as of late. He still going strong about the underwear thing. Apparently the Madison police department as the fashion police is a critical component of crime fighting. I still don't buy it. And of course, Mr. Blaska is still blaming liberals:

My liberal friends go crazy at the mere-est suggestion of “discipline.” They don’t understand that discipline is the greatest inheritance that we can bequeath to the next generation.

Ah but where are you directing this "discipline?" That's the key part: being useful, and not lashing out at something merely because you don't like it. This is not the time to waste police resources on being culture warriors or the fashion police.

The immediate need is for increased police patrols, along with some long-term planning for the neighborhood (that goes beyond policing too). I expect the police are already on top of this. And I hope they are getting the appropriate support from the Mayor's office. Happily, the Madison police department currently doesn't have any ridiculous ordinances to enforce. In light of the article linked at the top of this entry, let's hope it stays that way.

No to a City Administrator

As previously noted, Alder Michael Schumacher (D-18 [Northside]) has a blog. And he recently posted an entry considering the possibility of hiring a city administrator. This was also picked up by the Isthmus and seems like an interesting idea. From True North:

a City Administrator would implement policy and deliver services with a commitment to effectiveness and accountability to elected officials, be responsible for managing resources efficiently, and perform according to the professional and ethical standards defined by the field of public administration.

Now that sounds like a good idea in some ways. If you get someone good in there, well they could get a lot of stuff done and keep the city services running smoothly. On the other hand, this person would have a lot of power on how the city is run, would only be indirectly answerable to the public, and probably would not draw a lot of press coverage, which would reduce accountability. In addition, creating a city administrator position might be solving the wrong problem. Here's a quote from Alder Schumacher in the Isthmus article:

"When a department head right now engages a mayoral aide, that department head must be thinking somewhere in the back of his mind, 'This is a political interaction; what does the mayor think?'" Schumacher says. "The city administrator acts as a buffer."

Now, I could be reading into this a little bit, but if a department head can't go to the Mayor's office without it being a political interaction, is the problem with the city structure or with the Mayor's office? Not that I'm saying that this is necessarily the case, but at the same time, we have elections for a reason. If people don't think the Mayor is running the city right, well they should know what to do.

In any case, I think it's really great that Alder Schumacher is examining the city's political structure. It's kind of a boring thing (not to me though), but it can make a big difference in how the city is run.