Important Finance Committee Meeting Today -- 4:30 PM

Hi Everyone.

Today at 4:30 PM the Finance Committee meets. Council members will be getting an update on our budget picture for 2021.  It goes without saying this next budget will be extremely difficult. The revenue side of the equation has been severely crimped by COVID-19, yet at the same time we are being rightfully challenged to imagine what public health and public safety would look like in Madison if we really believed Black Lives Matter.

I posted on Friday my thoughts on defunding the police and refunding our communities.  There continues to be mounting discussion nationally and locally as to what are the most effective, just and humane responses to social needs ranging from mental illness to homelessness to the poverty that disproportionately impacts communities of color.

Our current system is broken.  Say their names: George Floyd, Keonna Taylor, and Tony Robinson.

We are morally obligated to push for change.

While I have thoughts about ways we can reallocate resources away from our status quo reliance on police, my immediate concern is that we complete the work of setting up independent community oversight of MPD by hiring the full-time Independent Monitor (IM) and establishing the Community Oversight Board (COB) recommended by the MPD Procedure and Policy Review Ad Hoc Committee.

This will be the topic of three items on the Finance Committee agenda, Items #16 – 18.  I am a co-sponsor of the action under consideration in item #16, the 2nd Alternate Resolution 60674, to expedite this critical oversight process in a timely manner.  Council members have received nearly 2500 emails over the past ten days calling for immediate action in response to George Floyd's murder.  

The time is now for substantive and meaningful action.

I, and several of my colleagues on Council, share community concerns that Items #17 and #18 on the agenda, which include the job description of the IM and the parameters under which the IM would function, run counter to the recommendations contained in the Final Report of the Ad Hoc Committee that Council voted to accept this past January.

You are invited to participate in this important moment.

The City of Madison is holding the Finance Committee meeting virtually to help protect our community from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Here is how you can participate:

1. WRITTEN COMMENTS: You can send comments on agenda items to financecommittee@cityofmadison.com.

2. REGISTER BUT DO NOT SPEAK: You can register your support or opposition to an agenda item without speaking at www.cityofmadison.com/comment-finance-committee

3. REGISTER AND SPEAK: If you wish to speak at the virtual meeting on an agenda item, you MUST register. You can register at www.cityofmadison.com/comment-finance-committee When you register to speak, you will be sent an email with the information you will need to join the virtual meeting.  You must register by 4:00 PM.

4. WATCH THE MEETING: You can call-in or watch the Common Council meeting in several ways:   

• Livestream on the Madison City Channel website
•  Livestream on the City of Madison YouTube Channel
•  Television: Watch live on Charter Digital Channel 994 and AT&T U Verse Channel 99
• • Listen to audio via phone: (877) 853-5257 (Toll Free) Webinar ID: 986 5340 8301

This is a challenging time. We dare not waste this opportunity.

As Michelle Alexander recently wrote in the NYT, "We must get it right this time or risk losing our democracy forever."

Lastly, I want to encourage you if you have participated in any of the protests recently, that you go to the Alliant Energy Center for free testing.  The virus is still with us, and cases are actually on the rise in Dane County.  Continue to wear a mask when you are out, do not touch your face, and continue to wash your hands frequently and thoroughly.

Listening. Learning. Speaking Out.

Be safe. Be well. Be kind.

Tag