Common Council

F-35A Update - 9/12/19

Last night approximately 300 residents attended the community meeting held at Sherman MS and expressed overwhelming opposition to the proposal to bring a new squadron of F-35A jets to Truax Field in Madison. You can read more about the details of that proposal and the expected impact to north and eastside neighborhoods here. District 15 residents in the Carpenter-Ridgeway and Hawthorne neighborhoods are among those expected to be most impacted.

Today, I submitted a resolution for consideration and debate at the 9/17 Common Council meeting: Responding to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Air National Guard F-35A Operational Beddown. That resolution concludes:

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Madison Common Council concludes that the adverse impacts described in the Draft EIS will substantially reduce the quality and quantity of current affordable housing stock, decrease the value of the property tax base, reduce opportunities for Transit-Oriented Development, disproportionately affect children and families of color, and are contrary to the City of Madison's values of equity, sustainability, health and adaptability as codified in our Comprehensive Plan adopted in 2018 , the City's Racial Equity and Social Justice Initiative , and undermine multiple long-term goals of City policy makers and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that based on the significant, negative impacts highlighted in the Draft EIS that will disproportionately impact children and residents with low-incomes and communities of color, and given that there is no guarantee that sound mitigation or abatement will take place and that the City of Madison would have no official role in any potential mitigation program, the Madison Common Council does not support the selection of Truax Field as a preferred location for the 5th Operation Beddown; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Madison Common Council requests the Air National Guard to reconsider Truax Field as a preferred location until and unless the findings of the EIS are shown to misrepresent and underestimate the significant environmental impacts to those living, working, and visiting the north and east sides of Madison; and,

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Madison City Clerk send a copy of this resolution to the F-35A EIS Project Manager, Secretary of the Air Force, US Senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson, Congressman Mark Pocan, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Wisconsin Senators Miller, Erpenbach, Wisconsin Assembly Representatives Sargent, Taylor, Hesselbein, Dane County Board & County Executive Parisi, and Dane Co. Airport Commission.

Tonight is the official Open House sponsored by the National Guard Bureau at the Exhibition Hall of the Alliant Energy Center. There will be an Open House from 5 to 6:30 p.m. with a Formal Presentation from 6:30 to 8 p.m. If you can't attend the meeting and would like to submit official comment, you can do that online here.

I wanted to thank all of those who have reached out to me on this issue, including those that have expressed concern and opposition to the proposal as well as those who are in support. I've spent significant time and energy on understanding the expected impact to District 15 residents and to the greater Madison area and cannot and do not support a proposal that is expected to have such significant negative impacts to our community.