Election Update & Council Recap - D15 Update 4/6/20

Election Day is Tomorrow 

After a lot of twists and turns, the spring election will be held Tuesday (April 7). For the latest info from the Clerk's office click here. If you've already mailed in or dropped off your absentee ballot, you're done. If you received an absentee ballot but haven't returned it yet, you can drop it off at your poll location or put it in the mail to be postmarked by April 7th. Any eligible voter that has not already submitted an absentee ballot can also still vote in person tomorrow at your polling place. This includes individuals that requested an absentee ballot as long as that ballot has not already been returned.

Tuesday's Common Council Meeting 

As I mentioned in this previous blog post, there were three important items on last week's common council meeting. You can watch a recording of the meeting here. Here's a quick update on the outcomes:

Appeal of Plan Commission action concerning 3630 Milwaukee Street (Amazon proposal) - On a 14-6 vote, the common council overturned the Plan Commission's decision in favor of the appeal. This is a disappointing outcome for the City of Madison and a win for Amazon and the property owners. This was the last hurdle for this project and the proposal is now expected to move forward. I voted against the appeal and urged my colleagues to do the same.

Declaring a state of emergency & granting extraordinary powers to the mayor - An alternate that would have limited the extraordinary powers of the mayor failed on an 8-12 vote. A subsequent motion was passed that reaffirmed the broad powers included in the mayoral proclamation and will be in effect through June 2nd. I cosponsored the alternate and voted against the extraordinary powers.

Responding to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Air National Guard F-35A Operational Beddown. - The resolution opposing the selection of Truax Field for the F-35 beddown passed on a 13-5 vote. The final decision for the beddown is expected to be issued by the US Air Force at some point in the near future. I cosponsored the resolution and voted in favor.