This is my first entire day of retirement from the Madison Common Council. In reflecting on this, I found extremely interesting that last night I was introducing Ralph Nader for a talk he was invited to by The Distinguished Lectures Series of UW to a sold-out crowd at the Union Theater. No matter what you think about Nader or the recent Presidential election, please read on because what he spoke about connects well with what the Tenney-Lapham neighborhood is all about -civic participation and collective knowledge shared with one another. It made me feel both humble and proud to have served you.
Things move forward and things
change because of what people put their minds together to do and make
happen. If this weren't the case,
the neighborhood would be in a situation where either nothing would change
and/or things would be forced upon it that would be undesirable or
unaccountable to its citizenry.
During the past six years of my tenure, many positive things have
happened and have come to be because of ideas and input involving members of
the Neighborhood Association, other groups with folks living in the
neighborhood and even individual residents themselves; all people I feel proud
to have worked together with.
Perhaps we can look back at some of our major achievements.
*Finalization of the Tenney Lapham
Old Market Place Neighborhood Plan and implementation of the Community
Development Block Grant's funding for prioritized projects, including the
installment of banners, pedestrian light poles and bike racks in the East
Johnson Street Business District.
*The Yahara River Parkway Plan; it
took almost three years to finalize and now it's in it's implementation
stage. North Thornton Avenue
within Tenney Park has been cut off and the two-way split bike path is there
instead. New landscaping was begun
in Tenney as well and we're now experiencing the continuation of these efforts
by The Friends of Yahara Parkway.
The Master Plan for Burr Jones Field has been completed and will be
producing tangible results beginning this spring. Reconstruction of the Sherman Avenue bridge is
slated for 2002, followed by
construction of the East Johnson Street bridge pedestrian/bicycle underpass,
again followed by the East Washington Avenue bridge underpass-.
*Ushering in the second and final
city-funded Curbside
Streetsweeping Program which still continues this season.
*Beginning a new city policy which
cuts in half the timing for systematic Building Code violation checks, putting
much more emphasis on the Isthmus, beginning with Old Market Place and Tenney
Lapham neighborhoods.
*The development of the FIRST
official city community garden which initiated the adoption of the Community
Gardens Plan for Madison, which is in various stages of implementation.
*Development of the much-lauded
affordable owner-occupied Coachyard Square development. *Initiating the first now city-wide
"Drive 25" campaign, as well as changing the timing of traffic lights
on the East Johnson-Gorham corridor, and traffic-calming measures on Baldwin
Street and soon-to-be Sherman Avenue.
*Winning the 50/50% split payment
of lead pipe replacement between property owners and all Madison citizens.
I know I've skipped many other
very worthy projects/changes which have happened, but I also know I'm running
out of space for this article. I
want to give a special thanks to those dedicated members of the former and
present TLNA, Richard Linster, Tim Olsen and Susan Bauman-Duren for their
leadership on this Association, Ed Jepsen, David Wallner and Margaret Bergamini
regarding the Yahara Parkway developments and Teena Browder and Rob Latousek
regarding the Neighborhood Plan and many, many others. You can be assured that my
communication with your new alder, Brenda Konkel, is excellent and that I have
met with her to inform her of all ongoing issues, initiatives and concerns of
the neighborhood.
I'll be continuing work on
community issues, which at present involve the Community Gardens Committee and
the Peoples Arts District. It's
been a tremendous privilege and honor to have worked with and met so many of
you and I'm sure we'll keep in touch.
Thanks to all!
-Barbara
Vedder