Barbara Vedder
The Common council is in the midst of annual budget time again and we are, indeed, upon very tight financial times. The Mayor has requested all city departments to submit requests with a 5% decrease in the funding they've received for 1997, excepting the Police and Fire Departments. It's certain that tough decisions will be necessary and some services will be impacted. I'll be keeping a watchful eye and hope that you will keep me informed how this affects you.
Meanwhile, back in the neighborhood...The process is moving forward for development of the former Reynolds property in the 600 block of East Mifflin street. The transfer of land from the Reynolds company to the city did officially happen, at the time of this writing, only a couple of weeks ago. Since this property is part of a TIF district which expires at the end of September, city staff drafted a resolution transferring the same property from the city to the Community Development Authority (CDA) in order to recover any costs which might be lost by any type of development which may occur at this site. Determination of the land use will happen at the Plan Commission level and this is one of the most important aspects of the entire story. During this whole process, I have concentrated completely on its fairness; that people with differing ideas about its land use, be able to be heard and not have it turn into a "done deal." This is because there are a great many people with differing views about what should be developed, whether it be some type of housing, community gardens, or a combination of sorts. Hopefully, you will receive this newsletter prior to September 8th, at which time the Plan commission will meet with this item on their agenda--to determine the property's land use. This will be a public hearing which anyone can attend and speak or register their opinion. After the Plan Commission makes its determination, the Reynolds Criteria Committee which has already been formed will be looking into more of the details of the development.
Another area I've been working on is that of the condition of housing in the neighborhoods. Linda Grubb and I did a tour of different parts of both Tenney-Lapham and Old Market Place neighborhoods and decided that another staff person from Building Inspection should have a more detailed look and has since come up with some specific properties which have been contacted to "get their house in order," so to speak, to take care of any code violations. What we found to be problematic were properties which look very shoddy but still meet the requirements set forth in the standards. Because of this, the city attorney's office has been contacted to look into ways to be able to address these types of situations and be able to deal with them through additional ordinance contingencies.
By the way, at the time you receive this, we will all have survived the great move of August 15th. For all new residents, I'd like to welcome you to the neighborhood. I hope that your experiences living here will be positive and rewarding. Remember, you can be part of the solution by knowing your rights and responsibilities as a tenant. If you're not already aware, an organization called the Tenant Resource Center exists to help you with any housing/landlord issues. If I can be of any assistance, feel free to contact me.
I also organized a meeting which brought together representatives of Madison Dairy and neighborhood residents who are impacted by certain aspects of the dairy, such as parking, traffic and environmental concerns. I'd like to thank Richard Linster for sitting in for me as facilitator as this was the day I'd returned from two days spent at the hospital. I'm sure he'll be writing more in the newsletter about this particular meeting.
Finally, I'd like to hear your thoughts about the Living Wage initiative since I sit on the city task force which is looking into this issue. I'd also welcome any thoughts you might have about the hotel for the Convention Center as well as community use, or the lack thereof, of Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center. Please feel free to call me at 249-8428 or e-mail district2@council.ci.madison.wi.us