Events, Announcements and Office Hours

Greetings friends and neighbors, 

I hope this message finds you well and looking forward to spring - I know I am! I am also appreciating the many events and celebrations observing Black History Month across the city. Several of these opportunities are listed below for your information. 

I will be holding virtual office hours the last week of February - thank you for your patience with me in getting these established! Please sign up for the following opportunities if you would like to meet me and/or discuss issues and concerns. If these times don't work for you, please send me an email and I will try to incorporate those times in my March office hours. 

Wednesday 2/23 5:00 - 7:00pm (4 appointments) Register Here

Saturday 2/26 10:00am - 12:00pm (4 appointments) Register Here

Sunday 2/27 3:00 - 4:00pm (2 appointments) Register Here

Please note appointments will be 30 minutes long.

Be well,

Jael

Upcoming Events

Supporting Families in Challenging Times; Thursday 2/17, 6-8pm (virtual)

This community conversation will focus on practical strategies for engaging families and providing meaningful support and coaching in these challenging times. The sesion is for anyone working with children and families, educators and administrators especially. Registration link: https://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/events/online-supporting-families-challenging-times-conversation-dr-travis-wright-1246446

Lunar New Year Downtown Celebration; Thursday 2/17, 6pm (in person) Lisa Link Peace Park 

All are invited to come Downtown for a special celebration of Lunar New Year. Experience traditional Chinese Lion Dancing performed by Zhong Yi Kung Fu Association on the stage at Lisa Link Peace Park (452 State Street) at 6pm. Immediately following the Lion Dance in the park, Association members will move on to provide blessings at 10 locations around downtown. Learn more here.

Roundtable Discussion on Body Worn Cameras; Thursday 2/17 (virtual) POSTPONED

The Madison Police Department is hosting a series of roundtable discussions to talk about the impact that body-worn cameras have on policing. The 3rd of this series was planned to occur tomorrow with Panasonic hosting. However I just received notification the event has been postponed due to scheduling conflicts. If you registered, you will receive an email with the rescheduled date and a Zoom link in the near future.

My current understanding is there are two more virtual meetings scheduled to occur Thursday 2/24 and Thursday 3/3.

Register here for the February 24th public meeting

Register here for the March 3rd public meeting

Honoring the Black Woman; February 1st-28th, Madison College Truax Gallery

Honoring the Black Woman runs from Feb. 1st-28th at Madison College's Truax Gallery. Those interested can view it from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays.

There was a scholarship created in honor of Dzigbodi Akyea to support Black women students at Madison College. If you'd like to contribute, you can do so here: https://www.supportmadisoncollege.org/dzigbodi-akyea-memorial-scholarship/

County Board Supervisor Candidate Meet & Greet; Friday 2/18, 6-8pm (virtual)

Join several of the new unopposed candidates running for County Board Supervisor seats for a meet and greet Facebook live event. During the event each of the candidates will give a brief introduction of themselves, why they are running, and a brief Q&A. Visit the event page linked here, for more information. 

Leaders of Madison's Black Renaissance Documentary Screening; Saturday 2/26, 7pm (in person) Overture Center 

This film introduces viewers to 40 of Madison's most prolific leaders as they define what is happening in Madison and what it means to the city's future. The film explores the innovation that Black leaders are introducing in many areas, ranging from education, to healthcare, to economic development and more. Please click the following link to view the documentary trailer. Reserve (free) tickets to attend here.

Civic Opportunity

Apply to be a member of the Lake Monona Waterfront Ad-Hoc Committee 

The Common Council recently authorized the Lake Monona Waterfront Design ChallengeThe Lake Monona Waterfront Design Challenge, a Parks-led planning effort focused on developing a master plan for 1.7 miles of shoreline and 17 acres of parkland along Lake Monona's west shore. The intent of the design competition format is to attract regional and national planning expertise to the project. The challenge will be a two-year process, with design team selections and master plan options developed in 2022, and the refinement of the preferred master plan option and submittal to Council in 2023.

A key component of the design challenge is forming an ad-hoc committee, whose responsibilities include selecting the competition participants and identifying a preferred master plan option. The success of the planning initiative depends on a committee that provides a broad range of representation with diverse perspectives. The time commitment for each committee member is estimated to average 4-8 hours per month over the next two years. Note the commitment will likely vary from month to month depending on committee responsibilities, with some months exceeding the 8-hour max. average. Per the authorizing resolution, the available committee positions include:

(7) Community representatives 

(1) Member of the Board of Park Commissioners

(1) Professional Civil/Structural Engineer

(1) Member of the Madison Parks Foundation Board

(1) Member of the Monona Terrace Board

(1) Member of the Friends of Nolen Waterfront

(1) Member of the Board of Public Works

*One of the above appointments shall be a professional landscape architect

The ad-hoc committee appointments will follow the Mayoral appointment and Common Council confirmation process. To facilitate collecting and consolidating initial applications, the Parks Division is receiving applicant submissions at LakeMononaWaterfront@cityofmadison.com

Email submissions must include a completed Committee Application Form and applicants must also file an online Statement of Interests, located here: Statement of Interests form. The deadline for submissions is noon, February 18th, 2022. The Parks Division will compile submissions for review and consideration by the Mayor's Office. Appointees selected by the Mayor's Office require Common Council confirmation, and the introduction and confirmation process is anticipated to occur in March 2022.

Relevant National News

In late January this year Pete Buttigieg (the US Department of Transportation Secretary) announced the federal government's new comprehensive National Roadway Safety Strategy, a roadmap for addressing the national crisis in roadway fatalities and serious injuries. This strategy is the first step at the national level in working toward the long-term goal of reaching zero roadway fatalities. This strategy adopts an approach that prioritizes eliminating fatal and serious injury crashes and accounts for human mistakes and vulnerability. 

I am excited to see the city continue to employ strategies that facilitate safe travel (car, public transportation, walking, biking, etc) and seek guidance from the roadmap and other actions that have proven to be effective in communities comparable to Madison. To read more about this roadmap and its intersection with Madison, read its news release here.

Other Events & City News

• February is Black History Month, and Madison Public Library is celebrating this year's theme of Black Health & Wellness put forth by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Through their Live Well @ Your Library initiative, community partnerships, book lists, events and more, they aim to support Madison's Black community in finding and accessing health and wellness resources. They've got some great events coming up this month at the library that celebrate many different facets of the Black experience. Learn more here.
• Healing Labs are a series of events created for teens 8th-12th grade from the communities of the African Diaspora to explore journeys of self-worth and self-determination. From Black History Month through Juneteenth, the Madison Public Library will delve into the history of resiliency and the many ways in which black and brown communities have learned to cope, process and move forward to thrive. The first event takes place on February 15 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. at Central Library and will explore the topic, "Who's in Your Village?" Supplies, snacks and $30 gift cards are available for the first 30 youth attendees. No registration is required. Learn more here.
• The Live Well @ Your Library team, in partnership with Be Well Madison , Midwest Mujeres Collective and Araceli Esparza Speaker, is offering a wellness practitioners virtual summit focused on BIPOC wellness practitioners on February 17, 7pm-8:30pm. Anyone in the medical or wellness fields is welcome to attend. The summit will include a panel discussion with some awesome local speakers, as well as a chance for practitioners to learn new skills, network and discuss ways to improve access and inclusion in Madison's health and wellness landscape. Learn more and sign up here.

Announcements

• The Common Council recently passed ORD-22-00012, which changes the order of business and procedures for registered speakers during Common Council meetings. These changes stemmed from policy recommendations made by the Task Force on the Structure of City Government (TFOGS). The new Common Council meeting format will go into effect on February 22, 2022. Find more about the improved process here.
• The City of Madison did not have a primary election yesterday. No office appearing on the Spring Election ballots in the City of Madison had enough candidates file to require a primary in the City on February 15. Find information about what will be on the April 5, 2022, ballot here.

Job Opportunities

City of Madison

Admin Clerk

Attendant

Crossing Guard

Organizational Development Coordinator

Discover additional opportunities online: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/MadisonWi

UW-Madison Madison Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Manager

Join us in the fight against poverty! The UW-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty seeks a highly organized and motivated Program Manager to work with community partners and stakeholders to plan and execute the "Madison Forward Fund" program, a guaranteed income pilot. This is an experiment in partnership with the City of Madison to evaluate how an income floor of $500/month can improve the economic security of Madison residents.

The salary range for this position is $42,600-$79,000 (max). The deadline to apply is end of day (11:55 pm CST) Monday February 21, 2022. Apply online HERE