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Meetings and Updates Week of July 31st

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Meetings and Updates Week of July 31st

  • City Meetings: Finance Committee 7/31 and Common Council 8/1
  • Full Closure of Atwood Avenue Begins 7/31
  • Police Body-Worn Cameras Pilot on the 8/1 Common Council Agenda
  • North Stoughton Road Corridor Study & Alternatives
  • McGinnis Park Tree Removal & Replacement
  • Events & Announcements


City Meetings

Common Council

The Common Council meeting will take place on Tuesday, August 1, 2023 in hybrid format at 6:30 PM. Agenda items include authorizing the implementation of the Body-Worn Camera Pilot program (see my comments below on this one), approving plans for two Public Works projects including a water booster pump near Felland Rd and the Well 15 PFAS Treatment Facility (I’m cosponsoring both), authorizing a service agreement with Blooming Grove to water service to qualifying properties (I’m cosponsoring), authorizing the acceptance of a grant to MPD for initiatives including paying for overtime of Public Records staff as they try to catch up on their records request fulfillment backlog (introduced as new business; I’m sponsoring), adopting the 2024 Common Council meeting dates, and recognizing August 19, 2023 as Africa Fest Day.

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee meeting will take place on Monday, July 31, 2023 in virtual format at 4:30 PM. Agenda items include an overview of the 2024 budget calendar and process and amending the 2023 Adopted Operating Budget to transfer funds between and within agency budgets.


Full Closure of Atwood Avenue Begins 7/31

Starting at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, July 31, Atwood Avenue will be fully closed to traffic between Fair Oaks Avenue and Sugar Avenue for the final phase of street reconstruction. Two-way traffic will be maintained between Walter Street and Olbrich Botanical Gardens. This phase is expected to last approximately one month. For more information, visit the project webpage, located here:
https://www.cityofmadison.com/engineering/projects/atwood-avenue

Please direct questions to the contact person listed.


Police Body-Worn Cameras Pilot on the 8/1 Common Council Agenda

Background

Madison has been debating police body-worn cameras (BWC) for at least a decade. Last April, Council voted to approve the BWC Pilot Model Policy, which was written based on recommendations from the Final Report and Model Policy of the Police Body-Worn Camera Feasibility Review Committee. In last April’s resolution Council directed MPD to write a BWC Pilot proposal and directed the City Attorney’s Office to review that proposal. Last fall, Council authorized $83,000 of carry-forward departmental funding for the BWC pilot in the City’s 2023 Capital Budget (bottom of page 2). The 8/1 Council agenda includes a final approval to authorize MPD’s BWC proposal to implement the North Police District BWC Pilot Program; find Chief Barnes’ memo about the proposal here. As directed by last April’s Council resolution, the City Attorney’s Office wrote a legal analysis of the extent to which MPD’s Pilot Proposal complies with April 2022 Model Policy provisions, highlighting discrepancies (using font color in that hyperlinked file) between the MPD proposal and Council’s BWC policy. Some differences are due to the camera/footage technology requirements in the Model Policy whose feasibility is not yet known by MPD; the Pilot study will help us understand these technical limitations of the cameras and their software. The Office of the City Attorney’s analysis notes that some provisions of the Council’s Model Policy are superseded by state law (and cannot be required of MPD) or else are already accounted for elsewhere in City or MPD policy. The vote before us on Tuesday is to determine if MPD’s BWC Pilot proposal sufficiently complies with the Model Policy and to authorize the BWC Pilot to proceed.

This topic is complicated, hence the long debate. Many are concerned about additional public resources being granted to policing because we know that police encounters with folks of color tend to be less safe for them than police encounters are for white folks. See bullets 6 and 8 on page 1 of this USDOJ, Bureau of Justice Statistics report, or this Harvard School of Public Health study summary for more information. Many are also concerned about the possibility of the BWC footage being used to increase the rates at which folks are charged with crimes. The operation of cameras and the management and review of footage will also pose new operational and financial costs to MPD and I will watch this piece closely as part of the BWC Pilot study, because if the BWC Pilot is approved we will need to use this information to understand the financial and operational impact of potential full, City-wide BWC implementation in the context of the City's constrained budget (recall that the City Operating Budget is capped by the state-imposed property tax levy limit).

My Position

In my day job as a policy and data analyst and in my role as alder I always try to make decisions using clear, objective information whenever possible. When a high-emotion, potentially traumatic event takes place, individual accounts based on memory are less reliable. When an officer uses force with a resident I think it’s very important to be able to understand the objective facts involved without relying on anybody’s memory alone. To me, the fact that police encounters with people of color are more likely to be violent than those with white people is more reason to collect footage of police encounters for transparency and accountability. If the BWC Pilot moves forward, I will be paying attention to the rate of charges filed for cases with BWC footage involved. My hope is that charges with BWC footage used as a factor would be based on information that is more accurate and less subjective without relying solely on individuals’ memory, and so improve trust. I support the BWC Pilot in general and I supported the motion to recommend approval of the BWC Pilot study in the Public Safety Review Committee on 7/12. If, following public testimony, MPD’s presentation, having our questions answered, and debate between the alders on Tuesday, I’m convinced that the BWC Pilot proposal sufficiently complies with the objectives of the Model Policy, I will support the authorization of the BWC Pilot.


North Stoughton Road Corridor Study & Alternatives

Brace yourselves for this one. In last Wednesday’s Transportation Commission meeting, City Transportation Director Tom Lynch gave commissioners a presentation about WisDOT’s North Hwy 51 Corridor Study (covering Stoughton Rd north of Highway 30). WisDOT staff attended as well so they could get feedback from City staff and Transportation Commissioners. The Corridor Study involves WisDOT creating design alternatives of key Madison intersections along Stoughton Rd including at Lexington/Commercial and at East Washington Ave. The alternatives are outlined in detail in City staff’s presentation to the Commission and in their feedback memo to WisDOT on the alternatives. These resources both do a great job of describing how well WisDOT’s alternatives do and do not meet Madison’s local priorities for these road corridors, including comfortable/safe pedestrian and bike crossings, requiring relocation of homes/businesses or loss of driveways, driver safety, vehicle speed, and more.

A key objective of WisDOT’s is to quickly carry a growing volume of vehicles through the corridor. They tend to favor free-flow traffic that often requires large, grade-separated infrastructure to be built – which takes more land (think of the Verona Road/Beltline interchange). I’m very worried that a consequence of this goal will include roadway and intersection design decisions that further disconnect neighborhoods and neighbors along this part of town – particularly near the East Washington Ave intersection with Stoughton Road. This is a key area for potential infill development that can take advantage of the City’s large investment in Bus Rapid Transit along East Washington Ave. The forthcoming Reindahl Imagination Center will be a tremendous resource for folks in this part of town – many of whom will need to cross this intersection on foot or by bike to access the new neighborhood resource. I joined the Transportation Commission meeting last Wednesday to share these comments and my concerns with WisDOT staff. Thanks to City staff and several Transportation Commission members for highlighting very similar concerns and needs in their feedback to WisDOT.

My understanding is that WisDOT staff and the City will organize at least one Public Information Meeting this fall to present these design alternatives to attendees, answer questions, and gather feedback. I will share event details as soon as I have it, so watch for this information in a future blog post. If you have questions or comments in the meantime, here’s the relevant contact information:


McGinnis Park Tree Removal & Replacement

Madison Parks staff let me know last week that they will soon remove the Amur Maple trees (which DNR considers to be invasive) along the northern edge of McGinnis Park. A neighbor reported that these trees were a safety concern to the public and a potential hazard to private property and utility lines, and the trees were found to contain significant basal rot, stem rot, broken limbs, and carpenter ants. New trees will be planted in the park to replace each of the six trees removed. The species will be determined at the time of purchase depending on availability, but will likely include assortment of serviceberry, magnolia, pagoda dogwood, or redbud – all smaller trees to avoid issues with utility lines.


Events & Announcements

  • East Side Farmers' Market, Tuesday, August 1, 2023: The Eastside Farmers' Market is Madison Wisconsin’s finest weekday farmers' market. Our goal is to bring the freshest Wisconsin grown food direct to the heart of the East side. Our vendor members are agricultural producers and food artisans who make value added products from Wisconsin's agricultural bounty.
  • The Capitol View Farmers’ Market, Wednesday, August 2, 2023: The Capitol View Farmers Market is returning to the North Star Neighborhood! Join us each Wednesday (May 31-October 11, 2023) from 3:00-7:00pm to support local farmers and vendors, enjoy live music and food carts, and make the most of summer in Madison!
  • Parks Alive | Owl Creek Park | Movie: Space Jam A New Legacy, Thursday, August 3, 2023: Parks Alive builds stronger neighborhoods and connects neighbors to their parks through fun, family-friendly activities, music and free food. Events are held in parks across the city and throughout the summer. Connect with your neighbors and engage with your community at a Parks Alive event near you! Owl Creek Park: July 6, July 20, August 3, and August 17.
  • Street Closure--N Stoughton Service Rd: East N Stoughton Service Rd at USH 51 will be closed to all traffic starting Monday morning (7/31) and will reopen Monday morning (8/7). This closure will not start until Kinsman Blvd is reopened.
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District 3 - Alder Field

Alder Derek Field

Alder Derek Field

District 3
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