City of MadisonContacting
Government Officials
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This document has (rather spotty) phone numbers and addresses for staff, elected officials, and members of advisory boards of:
Sorry, no extra-terrestrial parties (yet).Also, here are some local media contacts.
Contacting Your Legislators: A Handbook explains
Before you take the wonderfully easy step of sending email to your elected officials, you might want to consider that a recent study shows that email carries much less weight than a hardcopy letter. A report on that study says, in part
...like preprinted special interest postcards, these emails often aren't read and are "dragged and dropped" into the trash, according to a recent study by American University and Washington law firm Bonner & Associates.Lawmakers confirm that they don't "count" every email because it's difficult to determine where the flood of electronic messages are coming from.
Many people who email Congress mistakenly assume that if they copy the message to every member of Congress they will have a louder voice. I think it's a pretty safe assumption that a letter addressed to everybody is as good as a letter addressed to nobody.
The editor is always looking for updates and additions.
Writing a hardcopy letter isn't that tough. Activist Toolbox gives you a few pointers on how to do it effectively.
City of MadisonThe City of Madison web page has many useful resources, including contact information and relevant documents. For example, the City of Madison Neighborhood Association Home Page, which includes a handy clickable map of neighborhoods that takes you to contact information on each neighborhood association.
Mayor Susan Bauman
Room 403, City County Building
210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Madison WI 53710
Phone: 266-4611
Fax: 267-8671
Email: mayor@ci.madison.wi.us
sjmbauman@aol.com
The members of the Madison Common Council, listed by district number, with addresses, home phone numbers, and additional information on contacting them are at the city web page
Generic contact information:
US Postal Mail:
Council Office, Room 107B
City-County Bldg.
210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Madison, WI 53710.
Phone: 266-4071
FAX 267-8669, TDD 266-6573.
Email and other contact information for city departments is here.
The Police Department maintains a Speeding Hotline at 266-4624 (266-INCH). According to Police Department person Jill Klubertanz:
The Speeding Hotline is designed to accept complaints... at 266-4624. A voice mail system takes calls when the phone number is unattended... The Speeding Hotline was set up as a means of receiving input from citizens as to where there were ongoing problems with speeding. Our Dept. then used this information to make traffic enforcement assignments. We began to receive complaints about specific incidents of traffic violations. Although this was not the purpose of the Hotline, we decided to process these calls and send out letters to the registered owner of the vehicle committing the violation. The letter advises the owner that we received a citizen complaint and asks that they comply with traffic laws in the future. The voice mail or the call taker will advise callers of the type of information we need to take action. For a specific violation, we need location, date, time, violation, license plate and description of the vehicle.That makes this hotline an excellent adjunct to the Scary Drivers Registry .
Contact information about some of them can be found at Dane County's web site.
Our 'favorite' neighboring community, the Village of Shorewood Hills.
![[Dane County Seal]](icon/danelogo.gif){kind=icon}
The official Dane County web page.
Kathleen Falk
210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Room 421
Madision, Wisconsin, 53709
Phone: 608-266-4114
Fax: 608-266-2643
TTY: 608-266-9138
Email: falk@co.dane.wi.us
WWW
Dane County Regional Board of
Supervisors
Information on the County board members, including contact information.
According to the League of Women Voters:
The Dane County Board of Supervisors is the legislative arm of county government. As such, the board sets policy for the county through resolutions, ordinances, and the budget. The budget process allows the board to set policy and diretion for departments and to limit or expand the ability of departments to function. All actions of the county board are subject to the approval or veto of the county executive.There are 39 supervisory districts, with #1-#20 being identical with Madison's 20 aldermanic districts and #21-#39 being made up [of] combinations of the other cities, villages, and towns or wards therof. County Board supervisors receive $5,200 per year for board and standing committee meetings and $30 for committee and commission meetings plus mileage to and from meetings at $.26/mile. The County Board chairperson receives an annual salary of $12,000 plus $.26/mile to and from meetings.
Electors can contact their supervisors through the County Board office with a staff of 3 full time positions, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Room 118; 608-266-5758.
According, again, to the League of Women Voters:
Observers are welcome. Citizens can sign in for an agenda item to speak, to answer questions, or to register their opinion without speaking. Citizens can also register their opinion by filling out a slip at the County Clerk's office, City-County Building, room 112. (The agenda is available in room 118 on Monday prior to board meetings.) Public hearings start at 8:00PM. Regular agenda items are taken up in order. Committee meetings are posted in the hall outside the Clerk's office. Live and repeat cable television coverage is carried by Madison's Citicable 12.
The Dane County Regional Planning Commission (RPC) is the Metropolitan Planning Organization for Dane County, which means, among other things, that they are the institution charged with planning any transportation improvements that receive federal funds. That includes the ISTEA "enhancements" funds that are used to finance many bicycle-oriented projects. It is staffed with representatives from the city of Madison, towns, the state, and the county board. It has a budget of well in excess of $1m. Read all about it in DCRPC: A Profile in Brief. That document is just a wee bit stale, dating as it does from 1995, when I formatted the thing.
Another interesting read from the RPC (if you're into that sort of thing) is the Dane County Land Use and Transportation Plan Summary, dating from June 1997 and online as of September 1997.
In recent times political tension between Towns and Cities lead to the splitting off of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). As I understand it, the RPC is the land use side, and the MPO is the transportation side. Can that be a good thing?
Dane County Regional Planning Commission
217 S. Hamilton St., Suite 403
Madison, WI 53703
Voice: 608-266-4137
Fax: 608-266-9117
Email: dcrpcadm@execpc.com
Home Page
Madison Common Council
The work of seven public bodies holds particular interest to cyclists.
Their regular meetings are listed here, but are subject to change. So if
you plan to go, call the city staff contact number ahead of time to
confirm.
Pedestrian/Bicycle/Motor Vehicle Commission: fourth Tuesday, 5 p.m.,
Madison Municipal Building, Room 260. David Dryer (608) 266-4761.
Long Range Transportation Planning Commission: third Thursday, 4:30
p.m., Madison Municipal Building, Room LL110 or LL130. David Trowbridge
(608) 267-1148.
Plan Commission: first and third Mondays, 5:30 p.m., City County
Building, Room 201. Mark Olinger (608)266-4635.
Metropolitan Planning Organization:
Public Works: first and third Wednesdays, 4:30 p.m./hrgs @ 6:00 p.m.,
City County Building, Room 103A. Larry Nelson (608) 266-4751.
Transit and Parking Commission: second Tuesday, 5 p.m., Madison
Municipal Building, Room 260. Ann Gullickson (608) 267-8780.
Urban Design Commission: first and third Wednesdays, 4:15 p.m., Madison
Municipal Building, Room LL-130. Bob Gutzman (608)266-4635.
Dane County Board of Supervisors
Dane County Zoning and natural resources Committee.
Dane County Transportation Committee
The State of Wisconsin runs a web server
here. That includes a list of other governmental web servers (plus a few
others) around the state. There is a legislative hotline that can be called to express an opinion on
a particular issue: 800-362-9472. Here is some information on various state agencies and office-holders:
City Commissions
The various Boards, Commissions, Agencies, etc. are where the
real work gets done. These are your best bet for promoting
Good Ideas and fighting Bad Ideas.
County meetings
For all the boards and commissions of the Dane County
Board, you can find the
Be prepared to
submit to a search of your personal effects, and pass through a metal
detector, upon entering the building.
Wisconsin
| Office | Name | Address | Phone | WWW | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Tommy Thompson (But not for much longer!) | State Capitol Madison WI | 608-266-1212 | http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us | wisgov@mail.state.wi.us |
| Dept. of Administration | George Lightbourn | 101 E. Wilson Madison WI 53703 | 608-266-2309 | http://www.doa.state.wi.us/secy/index.asp | |
| Dept. of Natural Resources | George Meyer | Box 7921 Madison WI 53707 | 608-266-2121 | http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/ | meyerg@dnr.state.wi.us |
| Dept. of Transportation | Terrence D. Mulcahy | 4802 Sheboygan Madison WI 53705 | 608-266-0099 | http://www.dot.state.wi.us/ |
Information on the state legislature is here. That information includes email addresses for legislators, bill tracking, PDF-format versions of Wisconsin statutes, and more.
FederalContacting the Congress, a site that provides deep information on each and every member of Congress, including information on their staff, committee membership, and a bunch of personal information. Maintained by some guy, not the feds.
Contact the Congress, the government's web site for support of citizens wishing to contact their congresspeople. Includes mailing labels in a variety of formats!
Contacting Senators , hosted at the U.S. Senate site.
Here is contact information on Wisconsin's senators and second congressional district representative ( our area ):
| Office | Name | Address | Phone | Email/WWW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Herb Kohl | 14 W. Mifflin St. Madison WI 53703 |
608-264-5338 (Dane County) 202-224-5653 (Washington) 920-738-1640 (Appleton) 715-832-8424 (Eau Claire) 414-297-4451 (Milwaukee) |
senator_kohl@kohl.senate.gov http://www.senate.gov/~kohl/ |
| Senator | Russ Feingold | 8383 Greenway Blvd. Middleton WI 53662 |
608-828-1200 (Dane County) 202-224-5323 (Washington) 920-465-7508 (Green Bay) 608-782-5585 (La Crosse) 414-276-7282 (Milwaukee) 715-848-5660 (Wausau) |
russell_feingold@feingold.senate.gov http://www.senate.gov/~feingold/ |
| Rep. 2nd dist. |
Tammy Baldwin | 10 East Doty Street, Suite 405
Madison, WI 53703 |
(608) 258-9800 fax (608) 258-9808 | http://www.house.gov/baldwin/ |
Some people would say that bicyclists are quite naturally environmentalists as well, others would demur. Those of us at the Bicycling Community Page see a strong connection between the two constituencies, and that why we share this information with you: the League of Conservation Voters rates members of Congress on their voting record on legislation of environmental importance. Look up you favorite politician's environmental scorecard .
| Name | Address | Phone | Email/WWW |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Capital Times | P.O. Box 8060 Madison WI 53708 |
608-252-6419 | http://www.captimes.com/ |
| Wisconsin State Journal | P.O. Box 8058 Madison WI 53708 |
wsjopine@statejournal.madison.com http://www.wisconsinstatejournal.com/wsj/ |
|
| The Isthmus | 101 King St. Madison WI 53703 |
608-251-5627 | http://www.thedailypage.com/ |
| The Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel | 23 N. Pinckney, #330 Madison WI 53703 |
608-256-2553 | http://www.jsonline.com/ |
| WISC-TV3 | P.O. Box 44965 Madison WI 53744 |
608-273-3333 | http://www.channel3000.com/ |
| The Badger Herald | 550 State Street Madison WI 53703 |
608-257-6899 (fax) | http://www.badgerherald.com/ |
| The Daily Cardinal | Madison WI |
http://www.dailycardinal.com/ |
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