"... naturally occurring affordable housing..."

I'm trying to read "Madison City Council refuses rezoning for big student housing project Downtown" (Wisconsin State Journal):

The Madison City Council late Tuesday refused a rezoning for a 12-story student housing redevelopment, citing a lack of low-cost units.... During the debate Tuesday, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway gave some council members reminders to address only their fellow board members, not development team members present.  Additional warnings were given regarding time limits and swearing. 

Ald. Tag Evers, 13th District, called the rezoning issue “a change in philosophy, and ethos.” Looking toward the development team, he decried its decisions to tear down “naturally occurring affordable housing,” and what he considered to be a lack of action on their part to “replace it in kind” with more low-cost options. “You guys need to do better,” he said. “Send these developers back to the drawing board.”...

My city is suing Hyundai and Kia for not making their cars harder to steal.

.@MadCityCouncil votes unanimously to move forward w/ lawsuit against Hyundai, Kia. "This is a very serious security flaw in their products. And they, for a long time, took no proactive steps to remediate and it cost us a lot of time and money." https://t.co/SoMVdeOYVH via @WKOW

— Mayor of Madison (@MayorOfMadison) March 14, 2023

I'm only noticing now — and only because "Madison" is trending on Twitter — that Joe Biden flew into Madison yesterday.

A line of nearly 20 cars waited to catch a glimpse of Air Force One Wednesday morning as it landed in Madison. https://t.co/EWAAtG2gNe

— NBC15 News (@nbc15_madison) February 9, 2023

Waiting on the tarmac for @POTUS! pic.twitter.com/1n9xcnhEfs

— Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway (@SatyaForMadison) February 8, 2023

The day after the State of the Union, President Biden landed in Madison, Wisconsin and visited the Laborers' Union. Hell yeah he did. Thanks for coming to the best district out there (WI-02) @POTUS pic.twitter.com/NaOFrW7wK0

— Dane Varese (@DaneVarese) February 9, 2023

I wrote "flew into Madison" because the plane landed in Madison, but the event was at the LiUNA Laborers' Training Center in DeForest. 

Know your Madison-area landscape:

The mayor of {city name} is tweeting.

Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, most families in {city name} will receive monthly#ChildTaxCredit payments. It’s a guaranteed income through December. I joined@mayorsforagi because all Americans deserve an income floor. This is a step in that direction.

— Mayor of Madison (@MayorOfMadison) July 17, 2021

 

That's been up for 17 hours, and it's been mocked on Reddit (at the Madison subreddit) for the last 8 hours. A screenshot is preserved at Reddit, and I'll just put it below the jump for safe-keeping, on the theory that the tweet will be deleted and replaced.

Somebody at Reddit — in a post rated minus 2 — defends the Mayor:

I’m pretty sure it’s intentional, the point being every city is benefiting from the credit so you can insert any city’s name. But I do think it’s funny how the people who misunderstand the posting are playing this “gotcha” game like they’re just sooo much smarter than the Mayor! LOL

By the way, I loathe the overuse of "smart" in political discussions. It's not about IQ or education. It's about paying attention.

"Think of Pearl Street in Boulder, with its winding paths, large trees, public art, live music and abundant outdoor cafes."

"That’s the kind of exciting destination that could help bring back [Madison's] State Street — and go beyond what it has been. Instead of a river of concrete for buses to rumble down, State Street could be a walkable park for people, who would be prioritized over vehicles. The mayor last week brushed off support among Downtown business owners for taking buses off State Street, calling them desperate and willing to try anything. That might be true, given how devastating the pandemic, weak economy, protests against police, smashed windows and looting were for store owners last year. But just as likely is that business owners have a better sense for what will work than the mayor. Rhodes-Conway also cited changing retail trends, with more people shopping online. But why is that a reason to run buses down State Street?... The mayor wonders aloud if keeping buses off State is an attempt to keep poor people away.... The mayor isn’t about to bring back regular vehicle traffic to State, she said. So in that sense, she does support a pedestrian mall the entire length of State Street — as long as it’s centered around buses. That vision is stale and unexciting compared to the popular and long-standing idea of creating a grand promenade and park."

From "Don't pit fast buses versus a State Street promenade — Madison can have both," an editorial in the Wisconsin State Journal).

I've lived in Boulder as well as Madison, and I love Pearl Street and have long wished that State Street could be like Pearl Street, especially since State Street is already halfway there, closed to almost all traffic... other than these giant buses that must barrel down the street, disrupting the playful, peaceful mood. 

But it should be conceded that State Street is a very different place from Pearl Street. State Street has the University of Wisconsin at one end and the State Capitol at the other. Pearl Street is a few blocks away from campus (the University of Colorado), and there's nothing like a state capitol anywhere in the city. So there are far more intersecting interests connected to State Street. 

Pearl Street is a nice little enclave over there, a place for visitors and city residents to shop and eat and fool around. There are some people who prefer a funkier downtown, and State Street is absolutely, centrally downtown.

"Today is a great day for Trump and football fans. And a bad day for the Coronabros."

Wrote Jason King at Outbreak yesterday.

Donald Trump’s biggest bet is on masculinity.... Midwest people love football, a sport that rouses feelings of toughness, strength and power.... On Wednesday, the President made sure to remind everyone that two weeks ago he called Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren to make the case for the conference to reverse its decision to cancel football season....

There were also "300 phone calls with Big Ten administrators, players, parents and coaches" by "White House representatives."

Almost certainly, Wednesday’s development will impact Trump’s approval rating in the Midwest. The Big Ten includes Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa, three states that Trump narrowly won in the 2016 election. Now, during one of the darkest times in recent American history, he’s helped bring back excitement and energy to those states when they needed it most....

ADDED:

The decision to hold the football season right now has wide-reaching impacts beyond athlete and student safety and will impact the health and safety of many people in Dane County. thehttps://www.publichealthmdc.com/news/statement-about-decision-to-hold-badger-football-games pic.twitter.com/CynInfyi6o

— Mayor of Madison (@MayorOfMadison) September 17, 2020

Here's that statement from Public Health Madison & Dane County (which doesn't have authority over the UW-Madison campus):

"Madison police union approves vote of no confidence in Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway."

The Wisconsin State Journal reports.

Saying they were "misled" before endorsing Satya Rhodes-Conway in last year's election, the Madison police union on Monday announced members had approved a vote of no confidence in the progressive first-term mayor just as the city is roiled by the fallout from the death of George Floyd and COVID-19, as well as a sharp uptick in gun violence....

Her "unhealthy portrayal" of police creates an "us versus them" dichotomy, the union said in a statement... "We would never ask the mayor to ignore our inadequacies," the union says. "In fact, we call for a leader who is committed to rolling up her sleeves, diving in and working with us on systematic improvements rather than separating herself from us and further dividing our community."...

There is also an effort underway — led by a former Republican candidate — to recall [the mayor]...

"Organizers of an effort to recall Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway began today with the filing of required paperwork with the city clerk."

David Blaska reports, linking to the petition that's now on a 60-day deadline to get 36,203 signatures.

Here's an article in the Wisconsin State Journal about the recall effort:

[Recall petitioner Jon] Rygiewicz said Rhodes-Conway did not keep the city safe when groups of demonstrators tore down statues, beat up state Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, and another man, and threw a Molotov cocktail into the City-County Building on June 23.

“The sheriff said it was unsafe because of rioting and looting and senators getting beat up and things getting trashed and (the City-County Building) getting firebombs thrown in them,” Rygiewicz said. “And nothing was done to stop that at that time.”

"A serious recall effort is about to begin to remove Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway from office...."

"A tall order but the people of Madison are tired of the wanton destruction, physical violence, and harassment and general kowtowing. They are sickened by a Progressive Dane mayor who apologizes to the mob for apologizing to the police. Who demanded the immediate release of accused shakedown artist and convicted felon Devonere A. Johnson. Who will yank four minority race police from our four troubled high schools despite surveys showing at least 75% of parents WANT school resource officers. Tonight, with the connivance of the mayor, an intimidated school board [ended] the popular program...."

Writes David Blaska (with an update, in brackets, added by me).

"This is liberal governance for you: Miss Forward, the seven-foot statue of a strong and proud woman standing at the prow of a boat as if to direct Wisconsin into the bright future, toppled...."

"Here are your civil rights: A liberal state senator, Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, pummeled for trying to record the carnage. All because a petty criminal with a lengthy rap sheet resists arrest — an arrest for harassing and threatening with bullhorn and a baseball bat) at point-blank range innocent restaurant-goers? Accusing random diners of unproven racism? This is your hero? This is your George Floyd?... If Tony Evers does not call in the National Guard today he should be removed from office. It is too late for Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway, the mayor of Madison who apologized for sympathizing with Madison’s tormented police. Who has directed the police innumerable times to stand down. She must, herself, stand down.... Where is Dane County Executive Joe Parisi? The City-County Building was firebombed Wednesday night? Why hasn’t Sheriff Dave Mahoney deployed his deputies? Madison is burning. Where were the Capitol Police? The police union must declare a vote of No Confidence in the mayor.... It is the Broken Windows theory of crime; give an inch and they take a mile. There is no way to satisfy the anarchists’ demands. Madison is doing its best to re-elect Donald Trump. How long before The Proud Boys, the Boogaloo Bois, et cetera show up in town?"

Says David Blaska in "Resign, Mayor Satya. Declare martial law, Gov. Evers!"

That last question is chilling, and isn't that what the protesters want? No one who opposes the chaos should hope for the right-wing crowd to add to this discord. Our own government should protect us, but it is displaying its unwillingness to do so. This is completely unfair to those of us who are peace-loving.

UPDATE: "Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers says his administration is prepared to activate the Wisconsin National Guard to protect state buildings after statues were toppled in Madison and buildings were damaged" (WBAY). Prepared... after.

"This is absolutely despicable. I am saddened at the cowardice of Madison officials to deal with these thugs."

Tweeted Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, quoted in "Madison protesters tear down Capitol statues, attack state Senator from Milwaukee as fury erupts again."

Vos also questioned why Gov. Tony Evers hadn't intervened in the destruction of the statues, given it took place on state Capitol property. Protesters also broke windows of a state building near the Capitol which houses the state jobs agency, among other state offices.

Spokeswomen for Evers and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway did not respond to questions late Tuesday about police force's slow response.

After 1 a.m., a line of about 20 police officers stood in riot gear as a crowd of about 100 remained, breaking into occasional chants; police played a recording stating the gathering was unlawful and telling people to leave.

"I cannot promise that I will not make missteps along the way, particularly as a white woman... realizing that I cannot fully see the system that has been built up to benefit me and others like me."

Our mayor, Satya Rhodes-Conway, apologizes for her kind words to the police, which she had not intended to be heard by the general public. She thanked the police for their work during the protests, vandalism, and theft, and — as she puts it now — "failed to center" her message on Black Lives Matter. There's a hostage video quality to this:

"Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway came up with the idea for the murals and tasked city arts administrator Karin Wolf with the job."

"Wolf says she reached out to community cultural partners the city already has a relationship with in order to tap local artists. 'We definitely wanted to amplify the voices of people who have been directly impacted by racial injustice,' she says.... Not all the murals are part of the city program, says Wolf. Some store owners arranged for their own art and others artists went rogue. 'People didn’t know better,' says Wolf. 'A lot of people wanted to help and didn’t know how.'" — Isthmus reports on the murals of State Street.

There was a noticeable change from the condition of the plywood 4 days ago, the last time I'd checked. There's an effort to replace harsh graffiti with real murals and, as you can tell from the quote above, a prioritizing of black artists — with spaces marked as "reserved" and this message to white artists that "giving up some white privilege means saving this space for artists of color"...



A space that looked like this 4 days ago...



Is now painted over in yellow and marked "Reserved for a black female artist/Please respect this space":



I think some white artists were painting flowers rather than a "Black Lives Matter" image, and this looks as though someone who'd chalked out her design thought better of it, quit in the middle of things, and requested that a black artist "claim this space":



At the art museum, they were painting out the graffiti, presumably prepping for a nicer mural...

"Did it say, oh, you need thanks also? Sorry, I forgot you. I want to tell you thanks..."

I attempt to answer Meade's question whether I got his texted link to something about Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. Meade said: "You got it."

Here's the thing — a blog post by David Blaska, "Mayor Satya tries to make nice with police."

"Madison mayor says absentee ballots extension helps, but election should still be postponed amid COVID-19 pandemic."

The Wisconsin State Journal reports, quoting Madison mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.

I agree with our mayor. The planned election is not fair. It's not fair to old people like me who are used to voting in person and can't bring ourselves to go through an on-line procedure that required us to photograph our photo ID and upload it to a government website. It's not fair to the poll workers, who tend to be older and therefore more vulnerable. It's not fair to all the people who are trying to do social distancing but are thinking of deviating from the practice to venture into a place they know isn't right. What's the legitimacy to that outcome?

I'm rather sure that if the conservative candidate for state Supreme Court justice wins that liberals will think it's because right-wingers are dismissive of the limitations of social distancing and because poor, urban voters felt confused or intimidated. If the liberal candidate for state Supreme Court justice wins, I suspect conservatives will have theories of their own, though they don't spring to mind so easily. Absentee votes were "harvested"? Young people, feeling invulnerable, showed up in disproportion?

Anyway, it's actually still not too late to get an absentee ballot. A federal judge extended the deadline until this afternoon at 5. Go here. And go here if you want to get hired as a poll worker (and you're healthy and under 60).

If you're considering voting in person, know that your health will be safeguarded with "curbside voting" ("for those with underlying health conditions, recent symptoms or a cold or illness, or recent exposure to someone who is sick" (no requirement that you sign the poll book)), plexiglas shields between voters and poll workers (with the poll book passed to you under the shield), allowing you to use your own pen (blue or black), a supply of disinfectant spray, wipes and hand sanitizer (enjoy inhaling the spray), the floor marked with tape so you can see how to stay 6 feet apart, and a screening of the poll workers (done by asking them questions about their health).

ADDED: I'm trying to picture the plexiglas shield configuration. Is this something like a salad bar?

AND: Here's a Wisconsin State Journal article about yesterday's federal court decision:

"It’s gotten to be a party-like atmosphere. The party’s over. Illegal behavior will not be tolerated.... We’re seeing a myriad of issues converging in a geography."

Said Madison's new mayor, Satya Rhodes-Conway, speaking of the spot where State Street meets the Capitol Square, quoted in The Wisconsin State Journal.

[Sometimes] groups of people hang out for hours, some drink in public, aggressively panhandle, fight, urinate and defecate in nearby doorways and alleys, deal and use drugs — especially crack cocaine and heroin — and engage in prostitution....

Rhodes-Conway is supporting modest environmental changes to the space, such as temporary removal of several benches, adding fencing around a larger planter near Ian’s Pizza, 100 State St., lighting changes, and limiting the electricity from outlets used by people to charge cell phones or power other devices.

“The spaces allow for a larger number of people to congregate,” the mayor said. “We want to encourage people to be in the space, but not to be there for hours and hours.”...

The city, Rhodes-Conway stressed, will continue to focus on helping the homeless through the creation of housing, outreach and other means. But it will also take new measures to improve quality of life on the upper State Street area, including adding more portable toilets in discreet locations and extending the mall concourse services to include Central Library so city employees can do cleaning and tag belongings left there with warnings that they must be removed or they will be taken away and stored for pick up at another location.

The mayor is also supporting the efforts of the volunteer homeless outreach group Friends of State Street Family to locate small clusters of lockers for temporary storage in the area.

A kindly crackdown.

ADDED: I have a little video showing this area of Madison. It's one of my favorites, only 10 seconds. Watch:



The man is saying "All the assholes are over on the other side." This was back in 2011, and he was referring the anti-Scott-Walker protesters, who were doing a protest that involved camping on the street (and calling it "Walkerville"). I think there was some sort of concept that this side of the Capitol Square (the part Satya Rhodes-Conway is concerned about) was a place for non-political loitering and the people who were living on the street to express opposition to the governor were somewhere else.

"Shooting at Madison's Shake the Lake sparks panic, 'stampede.'"

The Wisconsin State Journal reports.

Neither Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway nor Madison police chief Mike Koval would go into detail Sunday about what kinds of security were in place for Shake the Lake...

“It is entirely unacceptable that someone brought a gun to ... an event enjoyed by thousands of people, including many children,” [Rhodes-Conway] said.

Brought a gun.... Not used a gun.... That's Madison.

Rhodes-Conway used the incident to blame the Republican-controlled Legislature for its failure to pass tougher gun laws. “Our job is made more difficult by a state Legislature that advances reckless gun laws and at the same time curtails the rights of cities to take further action,” she said.

"Paul Soglin, Satia Rhodes-Conway advance to general election for Madison mayor."

The Wisconsin State Journal reports.

Mayor Paul Soglin and former Ald. Satya Rhodes-Conway advanced from an energetic, expensive six-way Madison mayoral primary Tuesday, setting up a battle between the city's longest-serving executive and a facilitator for a UW-Madison think tank who would be the first openly gay mayor in city history.

Nice photographs of the 2 winners at the link.

AND: In the school board primary: "Madison School Board: Blaska and Muldrow, Mertz and Mirilli advance to spring election."

[Ali] Muldrow, the co-executive director of GSAFE, held a commanding lead in a four-way primary for Seat 4 at nearly 56 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting, more than twice the number of votes for second-place finisher Blaska, a former Dane County Board member and conservative blogger....

"We thought we could survive simply because no one else is saying what I'm saying," Blaska, 69, said of the primary results.

For more of what Blaska has been saying, click on my "Blaska" tag.