The Ghost of Council Present
The 2020 Memos: A Look at the Issues We Are Still Debating
Today, as alders, we are scrutinized, chastised, and ridiculed not only by the public but by some former alders who, six years ago, created or voted for the ordinance we shall enforce. It has been eye-opening to watch them operate and manipulate a new generation of activists without the record to back it up.
While the City developed the two ordinances, the City Attorney raised multiple concerns and submitted them to 2020 Council via a couple of memos. These memos are relevant today and should be read as historical records of those discussions, not as substitutes for the enacted ordinance.
Memos:
July 13, 2020, Subpoena Authority of Independent Monitor and Civilian Oversight Board
August 21, 2020, Independent Police Monitor/Civilian Oversight Body Discussion Topics
It is healthy to disagree about the effectiveness of the process, or whether more independence is needed, or even what the law permits. But debates should always begin with the actual language in MGO 5.19 and 5.20, any other applicable law, and the historical record.
Independence should be understood through what the ordinance says, not through assumptions, feelings, or expectations discussed in the Workgroup that have taken on a life of their own on social media.
The number one threat to civilian oversight today is the constant erosion of trust caused by disinformation, personal attacks, and narratives that fall apart when you check the facts.
MGO 5.20(5) also requires MPD and the Office of the City Attorney to attend every Board meeting. The ordinance states: "Staff from MPD and the Office of the City Attorney shall attend each Board meeting to answer any questions that may arise. Other City staff shall attend meetings when requested by the Board."
This is by design. Their expertise and knowledge of state statutes, City ordinances, and how the law applies to the Board's work are not obstacles to civilian oversight. It is part of the structure established to support the work.
The City Attorney's role is of most importance when legal questions arise. The Board needs to understand not only what it wants to do, but also what authority the law actually gives it. The City Attorney provides legal guidance and represents the City's interest in legal matters, including matters involving the Board.
Two of the three lawsuits involving the Board have settled. In 2021, a federal lawsuit alleged racial discrimination in the Board's ordinance and composition. The City settled the case and subsequently amended the ordinance's demographic language. In a separate ERD/EEOC matter, an applicant alleged racial discrimination in the hiring process for the Independent Police Monitor position, including alleged racial comments by a Board member involved in hiring. That matter also settled. A third lawsuit remains ongoing.
Disregarding legal guidance and acting on disinformation without questioning the sources or their motives has real legal and financial consequences. Legal disputes take staff away from other work and consume public resources. If we are serious about effective, credible civilian oversight, then we need to deal with facts, respect the law, and listen to the expertise that the ordinance itself requires. We cannot claim to support accountability while ignoring the legal framework designed to guide the work.
Conclusion:
To those individuals who have self-proclaimed to be the warriors for these ordinances, please spare me the lectures about your community engagement, equity, and inclusion efforts when some of the loudest people preaching those values are targeting the very people they claim to protect. People who identify as lesbians, transgender people, Latinas, and Black women.
For those who feed the warriors: Stop pretending these tactics are new in Madison. You know who the main players are; they are the same people! I see you share their posts like it is the progressive gospel. Take a tablespoon of reality, a cup of unresolved grief, a splash of accusations, stir the story enough times, and suddenly you drink the Kool-Aid as a factual cure.
Long emails, social media rants, character assassination; same playbook, unchanged for decades. Somehow, checking the actual record is always too much to ask.
Equity and advocacy are not a free pass to manipulate people; you are not immune from accountability for your own conduct.
Bring the facts.
Show the evidence.
Answer for your claims.
That's what accountability looks like.
Everything else is just noise dressed up as a movement.
