Common Council - RECONSIDERATION ITEMS 59 & 60

Items 59 and 60: Responsible Governance, Contingency Funding, and Support for Small Businesses

As the Common Council considers Items 59 and 60, I believe we should look carefully at the principles of consistency, precedent, and responsible governance.

In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd and the destruction that occurred on State Street, the City of Madison recognized that extraordinary circumstances required an extraordinary response.

At that time, the City considered a $250,000 Downtown Recovery Program. Although that specific appropriation was not ultimately adopted, Madison expanded existing economic-development tools and later provided significant recovery assistance to small businesses through other programs.

The larger principle was clear:

When businesses are harmed by extraordinary circumstances beyond their control, the City has a role in helping stabilize them.

That brings us to Item 59.

Businesses in the Williamson and Baldwin Street area experienced significant disruption and financial loss during an extended period of protest and public-safety response.

The original proposal for Item 59 provided $300,000 in stabilization assistance:

● $200,000 from the City's Contingent Reserve

● $100,000 from available departmental savings

The Finance Committee reduced that proposal to $100,000 and removed the Contingent Reserve funding.

I believe the Council should reconsider that decision.

The question I continue to ask is this:

If this is not the type of unexpected circumstance for which we maintain a Contingent Reserve, then what is?

A contingency fund exists because no city can predict every emergency, disruption, or unexpected expense when an annual budget is adopted.

We should always be thoughtful and responsible about how those dollars are used.

But protecting the fund should not become more important than using it for the purpose for which it was created.

Item 60 raises an important question of consistency.

Under Item 60, the City is being asked to use Contingent Reserve funding for unexpected costs related to the Office of the Independent Monitor and the City's response to this same broader critical incident.

I support providing the Independent Monitor the resources necessary to perform the work the City created that office to do.

But responsible governance requires consistency.

If we recognize that this incident created unexpected costs for City government, then we should also recognize that it created unexpected economic harm for small neighborhood businesses and their employees.

These businesses did not create the circumstances.

Their employees did not create them.

Yet they experienced lost customers, interrupted operations, payroll pressures, rent obligations, utilities, insurance costs, inventory losses, and uncertainty.

Approximately $100,000 spread among nearly 29 businesses does not go very far.

That is why I believe the Council should reconsider restoring meaningful funding from the Contingent Reserve.

This should not be framed as businesses versus protesters.

It should not be framed as economic recovery versus racial justice.

And it should not be framed as supporting businesses instead of supporting police accountability and independent oversight.

We can hold more than one responsibility at the same time.

We can protect the right to peaceful protest.

We can demand accountability and transparency.

We can properly support the Office of the Independent Monitor.

And we can make sure that small businesses are not left carrying the financial burden of a public crisis alone.

That is not inconsistency.

That is responsible governance.

As a member of this Council, and as the Alder representing District 20, I believe our decisions should be fair, consistent, and responsive to the people who depend on City government to act when extraordinary circumstances arise.

The Contingent Reserve should be protected from unnecessary spending.

But it should also be used when a genuine, unanticipated need arises.

This is one of those moments.

Barbara Harrington-McKinney
District 20 Alder
City of Madison Common Council