Running for Alder, Ace Apartments, Judge Doyle Square, and Municipal Building Grand Opening

Running for Alder

Tomorrow, December 1st, is the first day candidates for Alder can circulate nomination papers.  You only need 20 to 40 signatures to have your name on the ballot.  On the Madison Common Council website there is a section near the bottom titled "What's Going On". If you click on "candidates & campaigns" under this section, you will be taken to another page with links to the forms you will need to complete and other information you will need to know in order to get your name on the ballot.

When I applied to be the Alder for District 16 this past summer, I told people that I did not intend to seek election to the position because it was my hope that if people knew this was going to be an open seat that we would then have a competitive primary in February and competitive election in April.  

As I write this, on November 30, no candidates are listed on the Madison City Clerk's website as having filed any of the required paperwork to run in district 16.  If you have any interest at all in running and have any questions about the job or process, please feel free to contact me. 

Ace Apartment Proposal

On December 4th, the Common Council will vote on the the Affordable Housing Proposals recommended by city staff.  This includes the Ace Apartment proposal for the old Sentry grocery store location on Cottage Grove Road.

You can read about the proposals (item 53633) here: 

https://madison.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3759359&GUID=2B75A197-CAE4-41A8-9851-5411A9FFCD40

Judge Doyle Square

During my day job a couple of weeks ago, a student intern asked me about the Judge Doyle Square issue and why I had twice voted for resolutions to settle the dispute.  I began my response by saying the issue made me wish that Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman would show-up with their WABAC machine and we could go back in time and prevent the problems that are now at the center of the dispute between the City of Madison and the Beitler Company. The blank look on her face reminded me that she was born a few decades after Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends aired and my cultural reference was seriously outdated.  So, I shared with her my understanding of the chain of events that led to the resolutions being brought forward.

After being selected by the Common Council in April 2016 to develop a 252-room hotel, housing, retail and commercial space, a bicycle center and more than 1,000 parking spots, the Beitler Company entered into a contract for the Judge Doyle Square project with the City of Madison.  Subsequently, Beitler said they could not complete the private portion of development on Block 88 known as the Podium because of increased construction costs.

Beitler filed suit against the city in June after the city authorized $11 million to construct the podium above the underground public parking ramp under construction on the Municipal Building block. It is my understanding that Beitler claimed that the city was trying to seize its rights to develop the private portion of the development known as the Podium.

In August Beitler dropped the lawsuit, and a $600,000 payment to Beitler was negotiated that would have made it clear the city has the right to build and own the podium.  The payment has to be approved by the Common Council through passage of a resolution.  The initial resolution to provide the payment failed, as did a revised resolution that would have made the $600,000 payment, but enabled the city to save $700,000 on other costs related to the project.  Arguments made against the resolutions were essentially that Beitler could not be trusted, that additional problems and associated costs could arise and we ought to move-on or that a better deal could be negotiated with Beitler.  Among the arguments for the resolutions were that we are legally bound to a contract entered into with Beitler and that company is not going to just walk away, that a lawsuit could result in significant project delays and expenses, and that the $600,000 payment and agreement to amend the contract would provide certainty while the outcome of a lawsuit would be uncertain and potentially cost the city millions.

If we could go back in time and apply what we now know, maybe we could choose a different developer or have the contract wording changed. Of course, that is impossible and I need to consider the options in front of me.  So, in answer to the question from the student intern, I voted for the resolutions in order to settle the current dispute and move the project forward using the avenue I felt carried the least risk for city taxpayers. 

Work continues on resolving the dispute with the developer and, in January, the Common Council is supposed to have another vote on a resolution to resolve the matter.

Madison Municipal Building Restored - Grand Opening Celebration

I have had a couple of opportunities to attend meetings in the historically renovated Madison Municipal Building on MLK Dr and I can tell you the work that was done is simply amazing.   

From 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 8, there will be behind-the-scenes-tours, music and dance, food carts, caterers, screen-printing booth, and art, video art, and participatory art projects. Bring the family and take advantage of this living history/oral history project, poetry booth and events for children.