Common Council

Week of June 27th - Remembering Wayne Strong, Roe V Wade, COVID, Parks Alive, and more

This week I wanted to note the passing of Wayne Strong, share some local statements on Roe V Wade, share some (personal) experience with COVID, and highlight events and other city news.

• Remembering Wayne Strong
• Statements on Roe v Wade from the Common Council, the Police Chief, and the District Attorney
• My Committee Assignments - Plan Commission, Economic Development, and likely Transportation Planning and Policy Board
• COVID is still here (and this week it included me!)
• 402 Rustic Drive (Emerson Assisted Living) - delayed to future Plan Commission meeting
• Well 15 Public Meeting June 30th - PFAS treatment project
• Parks Alive
• Name the Electric Compactors - Voting is Open!
• Other Meetings and Events

Remembering Wayne Strong

Wayne Strong, a long time Madison police officer, coach, and civic leader, passed away on Monday June 20th. Wayne was involved in many, many community organizations and service. He led the Southside Raiders youth football program, ran for the school board and worked to improve education, served on many boards of directors or advisory boards, including at Just Dane, The Road Home Dane County, the YWCA, and a state racial disparities task force. As the Wisconsin State Journal Editorial Board wrote: "Strong modeled community involvement in pursuit of progress. He sought a better world. We will miss his voice and strive to follow his noble example."

• Wayne Strong, retired police lieutenant and youth mentor, dies at 62 -- Captimes
• Retired police lieutenant, Southside Raiders co-director Wayne Strong dies -- WSJ News Story
• We lost a great man and colleague in Wayne Strong -- WSJ Editorial

Statements on Roe V Wade

I wanted to share three recent statements on the overturning of Roe v Wade

At the Council Meeting on June 21st, the Council unanimously adopted a resolution opposing the (then potential) overturning of Roe V Wade, stating the Council's opposition to the current Wisconsin law banning all abortions, and supporting our Police Chief in revising the MPD's General Orders on arrests in regards to abortions. You can read the resolution passed by the Council by clicking here: Opposing the Overturning of Roe v. Wade and Establishing City Policy with Regard to the Potential Criminalization of Abortion

Chief Barnes on Friday released a statement. He writes in part: 

<...>Our commissioned officers are sworn to enforce laws, laws that we do not make, despite whatever our personal opinions might be. However, the criminal enforcement, arrest and investigation of abortions is the lowest priority for the Madison Police Department.

We are officers, not medical providers. We are not able to predict or know what type of service someone is receiving or providing when visiting a clinic. Nor would we ever arrest someone on this type of assumption.

Reducing gun violence, preventing car thefts and reducing traffic accidents have and will continue to be a top priority for our department.<...>

You can read his full statement here: Madison police chief responds to Supreme Court ruling on abortion

On Friday, Dane County District Attorney also released a statement on the DA's website:

Every day the Dane County District Attorney's Office works tirelessly fighting for women whose bodies and privacy have been violated. As your District Attorney, I have no intention of ever stopping that important work. There are plenty of archaic laws on the books that represent the values of days past. I have every intention of utilizing the power Dane County voters entrusted in me and will use my discretion to prosecute only those crimes that keep our community safe and represent our collective values. If the voters want a district attorney who prosecutes women for seeking an abortion or licensed providers who are acting in the best interest of their patients, they will need to elect someone else.

– Ismael Ozanne, Dane County District Attorney

My Committee Assignments

Most of the Madison Boards, Commissions, and Committees (the "BCC"s) have alders appointed to them. The appointments are by alder, not by seat, so I did not automatically fill in on any seats that Alder Lemmer previously held. However, as it turns out, the committees that I was interested in serving on were ones that Alder Lemmer was already serving on, so I'm excited that the Mayor has appointed me to the Plan Commission and to the Economic Development Committee. Alder Lemmer's seat on the Board of Public Health has been filled by Alder Phair from District 20. The Plan Commission is required to appoint a member to the Transportation Policy and Planning Board, that seat is currently vacant, and it is likely that I will fill that seat as my 3rd committee, but that is a decision the Plan Commission will make at a future meeting.

COVID is still here

This week has been rough for me, I tested positive for COVID at the beginning of the week, and for the first few days of the week my symptoms were anything but mild. (I'm feeling much better now, though I'm still catching up on some email!). Dane County is at a 'Medium' community level via the CDC definition, and COVID is definitely still circulating in the area. (I canceled everything but a few Zoom meetings this week, and in more than one of them the other person told me that they had COVID too and also needed to cancel!)

Nationally, we are in a COVID wave, one where the New York Times reports that "some scientists estimate that the current wave of cases is the second-largest of the pandemic." Thankfully, vaccinations and immunity from previous infections seems to be keeping the case fatality rate of this wave down, but now is a good time to go get a booster if you haven't already, to give your immune system some extra help. 

For me, I was vaxxed and boosted, and despite how miserable I felt I always had peace of mind that I was unlikely to need hospitalization and even less likely to die. If you do become infected (and do this especially if you're not vaccinated), contact your doctor about treatment options as quickly as you can, there are antiviral therapies that for many people can help if started early in the course of the infection.

• Public Health Madison Dane County COVID information - Local Testing and Vaccine information
• Report an At-Home Positive Test to Public Health Madison Dane County -- if you test at home, report your positive case so we have accurate case counts. It's private.  
• Free At-Home Test Kits from the Federal Government -- We're in the 3rd round of free test kits by mail, this is what I used. Public Health also made 800 kits available for distribution at Madison public libraries yesterday, so that may be another option
• Finally, Health insurers are required to reimburse up to eight tests per month , per member. Check with your insurance provider for details.

Emerson Assisted Living delayed to future Plan Commission meeting

The conditional use approval that Emerson Assisted Living is requesting will not be at the next Plan Commission Meeting, but will instead be delayed to a future meeting (probably in July) at the request of Emerson Assisted Living. A reminder that this project is to increase the number of residents from 8-10 to 9-15, all through interior renovation. The footprint of the current building will not change. 

Well 15 Public Meeting - PFAS Treatment project

Well 15 has been offline since 2019. It's located in Reindahl Park (right near HyVee and near E Wash/Lien Road) and if operational would be one of the wells serving District 3. Please join the Madison Water Utility for an update on the current status of municipal Well 15, including information on an upcoming PFAS treatment project. This will be the first of several chances for members of the public to provide input on this project and to express any opinions, concerns or recommended priorities.

• Well 15 Public Information Meeting and Listening Session
  June 30, 6:30pm-8pm
  East Madison Community Center
  8 Straubel Court

Parks Alive - Parks for Week of June 27th

Parks Alive is a collaborative effort across multiple City departments and involves many community-based stakeholders and mobile resources. This is a great opportunity to come out to local parks, build community, strengthen relationships, and have fun! Click on the following parks to see dates, times and activities for:

• Allied Park (June 27)
• Darbo/Worthington Park (June 28)

Name the Electric Trash and RECYCLING Compactors - Voting now open!

The City of Madison Streets Department is asking the City to vote on the names for our two new electric compactors - one for trash, one for recycling. Yes, Trashy McTrashface and Recycly Recyclerson are options, though as a Star Trek fan I'm personally rooting for "TrashKhaaaaaan!" and "(Shut Up, Wesley!) Crusher". See the full list and vote for your top 5 choices by clicking here. 

Other Events, Meetings, and Happenings

• Madison residents can now download their trash and recycling calendars for the entirety of 2022. Go to the Streets Division's collection schedule website, and enter your address into the form. Read more here.  
• The Equal Opportunities Commission is now seeking nominations for the annual Reverend James C. Wright Human Rights Award. The award honors the late Reverend James C. Wright, who served as Executive Director of the Equal Opportunities Commission from its inception in 1968 until his retirement in 1992. Nominations are due by July 22, 2022.
• Madison Public Library's mobile library, the Dream Bus, began its summer schedule on June 21. Follow the links to learn more about the Dream Bus and see the schedule. Read the press release here.
• Brush from June 13, 2022 Storm to be Collected by Friday, July 8, 2022 - Residents should place brush out by their scheduled set-out day
• Madison's Annual Drinking Water Quality Report is Out! - Madison's drinking water meets all federal and state standards for health and safety

p.s. I only recently discovered that the City's blogging software does not automatically enable spell-checking in the post editor. So I apologize for the numerous typos in previous posts - now you have a good sense for what words I don't know how to spell!