Common Council

Meeting and Event Highlights for the Week of October 10, 2022

Meetings

• The Common Council will meet in hybrid format at 6:30pm on Tuesday, October 11.
  • Meeting details
  • Meeting agenda 
  • Watch online
• Many other committees meet the week of October 10, including the Landmarks Commission, Urban Design Commission, Board of Public Works, Public Safety Review Committee, Equal Opportunities Commission, and more. To see the full list of City meetings scheduled for the week, please consult the City meeting schedule.

Events

• Madison Senior Center Health & Resource Fair: The Madison Senior Center's annual Health & Resource Fair is on Tuesday, October 11, 9am-11:30am, at the Senior Center, 330 W. Mifflin Street. Learn more about the event here, or call 608-266-6581 or email seniorcenter@cityofmadison.com for more information.
• Community Talk Back Series: Join the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness (FFBWW) at noon on October 11 for their Community Powered Policy Session to share your thoughts on the most pressing issues affecting Black women, children, and families. Your feedback will directly shape the policy recommendations included in their "Policy Blueprint for Black Women's Health: Black Women Deserve," which will be published as a resource and roadmap for policymakers and decision-makers across the nation. All community members are invited to attend the various sessions. Register here for the upcoming session or future sessions.
• 20th Annual Wisconsin Book Festival: The schedule for the 20th Anniversary Fall Celebration of the Wisconsin Book Festival has been released! Visit wisconsinbookfestival.org to see the full lineup for the 4-day celebration taking place October 13-16 and start saving the date for your favorites. Catch international best-selling author Andy Weir for Project Hail Mary, activist and advocate Brenda Myers Powell for Leaving Breezy Street, Reese's Book Club author Thrity Umrigar for Honor and many more!
• Fire truck parade: Please join the Madison Fire Department (MFD) on Sunday, October 9, at 1pm, for the annual Fire Truck Parade. For 2022, MFD has partnered with Downtown Madison to enhance the event with a fire safety scavenger hunt, fire-themed story walk, and deals and specials at downtown stores and restaurants.
• Walk-tober is back: For the third consecutive year, the City of Madison is promoting staying active this fall with a special month-long event, Walk-tober. This series of planned activities and events hopes to motivate the public to get out and walk during the month of October. The Walk-tober website provides weekly scheduled activities, walk suggestions, contests and a few collaborations (reading lists, nature walks and the "Walk or Wheel" challenge) with stakeholders around the city. You may also want to read about the 26th annual National Walk & Roll to School Day on October 12.
• Virtual community sessions on the 2023 budget: The city's budget for 2023 will be debated and adopted by the Common Council in November. In addition to public comment opportunities at Finance Committee and Council meetings over the next six weeks, there will be two virtual community sessions on the budget. City Finance staff will provide background information on the city's capital and operating budget process, including highlights of the 2023 executive budget.  This is a great opportunity for residents to learn more about our city's budget.  Electronic copies of budget information can be found at www.cityofmadison.com/finance/budget/2023. Virtual community sessions on the 2023 budget will be held on Thursday, October 13, and Monday, October 24.  Both meetings will start at 5:30 PM and end at 7:00 PM.
  • Join the October 13 virtual community session
  • Live stream the October 13 virtual community session
  • Join the October 24 virtual community session
  • Live stream the October 24 virtual community session

Announcements

• Brush collection is over for 2022: Madison residents should not place brush at the curb for pickup at this time. Opportunities to set out brush for curbside pickup are over until the spring of 2023. The Streets Division drop-off sites will accept brush from Madison residents. In order to use the sites, you will need to provide proof of residency. Residents are restricted to one trip daily, and the maximum amount of material that can be dropped in the one trip is equivalent to what would fit into the back of standard pickup truck bed or on a 5' x 8' trailer. Oversized loads will be denied use of the drop-off sites. Read more here.
• Accessibility to the ballot: The City of Madison Clerk's Office works to make sure that every eligible voter is able to cast a ballot and have that ballot counted. Making sure all voters know their options for casting a ballot is one way they try to reach that goal. Learn more about the several tools that Clerk's Office staff and election officials use to make sure voting is accessible in the City of Madison.
• Jeffrey Clay Erlanger Award: The City of Madison invites you to submit nominations for its annual Jeffrey Clay Erlanger Civility in Public Discourse Award. This award honors Jeffrey Clay Erlanger, who was an individual of integrity, passion, intelligence and civility. Jeff understood that thoughtful and caring people could have very different views on how to best address our community's many complex issues and problems. Jeff, who died on June 10, 2007, spent a significant part of his life committed to public service, focusing on constructive advocacy and civil debate, fairness, openness and effective representation. He embraced the similarities that unite us. Find more information about the award and the nomination process here. Read the news release here.
• Dane CORE 2.0 application portal: As of October 5, the Dane CORE 2.0 application portal has reopened. For anyone who submitted an application prior to September 15, your application is still being processed and there is no need to submit a new application. To view the status of your application, or to check for open tasks (meaning you may be missing documentation in your file), please log into Neighborly and review your submitted application. For new applications, including Additional Funding Requests, there are new program eligibility requirements. The new program requirements include:
  • Program benefits will be available only to those with household incomes at or below 50% of the County Median Income, which are the following limits: Household Size of 1 $40,400, Household Size of 2 $46,150, Household Size of 3 $51,900, Household Size of 4 $57,650, Household Size of 5 $62,300, see website for more.
  • The program will provide assistance only for past-due (unpaid) rents.
  • Only arrears accrued since July 1, 2021, will be eligible.
  • Limited assistance will remain available for forward/future rent payments, and only if paired with security deposit assistance.

To learn about program eligibility and to apply for Dane CORE 2.0, please visit www.danecore.org.

• Vision Zero: The final Vision Zero speed reduction for 2022 will occur on a portion of Segoe Road beginning on October 10. This area was selected due to the busy use for multi-modal street traffic, its proximity to a school and park, as well as lots of residents, restaurants and a large shopping area. The section of Segoe Road that will see the speed reduced to 25mph is from University Avenue to Odana Road, approximately 2.2 miles.
  
  Nationally, a statistical analysis to the first quarter of 2022 shows that traffic fatalities are up 7% compared to 2021, which was already a high year for traffic fatalities. In contrast to the national trend, Madison crash data shows the total number of traffic crashes are down 5% for the first half of 2022, compared to the first half of 2021. Even more astounding is that fatalities and serious injury crashes are down 29% in the first half of 2022 compared to the first half of 2021. These promising statistics tell us that the citywide Vision Zero project improvements are making a difference!