Plan Commission March 16th 2026

I voted yes!

Tonight I voted yes on 227 units of affordable housing at 5555 Odana Road and 5534 Medical Circle — and I want to explain why, including what happened in that room.

At every Plan Commission meeting, we are required to ask: Who benefits? Who is burdened? Who does not have a voice at the table? Tonight those questions were put to the test.
Bear Development brought us a fully income-restricted affordable housing project — 227 apartments, every unit rent-restricted, every household at or below 60% of area median income, with public financing already assembled. It is exactly what Madison's housing goals demand.
What we also heard tonight was opposition from parents of a neighboring childcare center arguing the project posed a danger to their children. I want to be honest about what that was: a pattern this city has seen before, where schools, parks, and childcare centers get invoked as reasons to keep affordable housing — and the families who need it — out of established neighborhoods. Madison - like many cities- redlined its neighborhoods.

 We have one of the tightest rental markets in the country. We do not get to call ourselves a city committed to equity and then flinch when it matters.

I did support one condition: requiring Bear Development to submit a construction management plan that protects childcare drop-off and pick-up hours during the build. That is a legitimate concern. Using it to block housing for 227 low-income families is not.
The families who will live in this building are not a threat to this neighborhood. They are this neighborhood.

I voted yes. Watch my full statement in video. This agenda item starts at 1:58.