City-County Building
Common Council

Week of September 15, 2025: The End of Dairy Drive

posted 

Last night, after hours of public testimony, questions of staff and discussion amongst the Council, the resolution to save the Dairy Drive encampment failed, 10-9-1 (11 votes were needed to pass). The 22 people now living there will be forced to leave before the end of September and the site will be demolished -- the cabins auctioned as surplus. Fortunately, some of those residents are very close to getting permanent housing (five, if I remember correctly). But many will be back on the street with less access to supportive services and an uncertain future and the facility that had a 78% success rate in getting people into permanent housing will not be available for the cold winter ahead.

There was already a lot of momentum to close Dairy Drive when I first took office five months ago, and I knew getting this passed would be a challenging task. Decisions had been made by a previous Council, and that momentum was difficult to reverse.

Much has been made of the costs to push demolition to the spring due to budget restrictions. We would either have had to cut something else or figure out how to put it in the capital budget and borrow. Even with additional funds from the City referendum last April, we are facing a tight budget with a structural deficit that will only worsen each year until the state legislature fixes the shared revenue formula to return our fair share back to Madison.

Dairy Drive would not have been constructed without federal COVID emergency relief funds. The operating costs were also largely paid for with these funds, along with City and County help. It was argued that without continued federal funds there was no way to keep the site operating.

But here's the thing: we need to stop thinking of homeless services as a cost with no return – a drain on resources. Instead, we need to think of it as an investment in people. There is value in getting people stabilized and into permanent housing. There is value in helping people overcome their addictions and get treatment for mental illnesses. There is value in helping those who are able to work to get back into the workforce. There is value in offering a helping hand to our neighbors.

Conversely, there are serious costs from not doing enough. Extra policing, crime, filling up the jail for petty offenses, overreliance on paramedic and hospital services as primary care, illegal camps in our parks and neighborhoods because people have nowhere else to go and no avenue for advancement. Empathy is one thing, but these are the cold financial reasons why we need to better fund homeless services.

I want to thank my nine other colleagues who voted in favor of my resolution. We came close to extending this contract and maintaining the irreplaceable million-dollar asset built on Dairy Drive that has served to mend and save so many lives.

And I want to apologize to the community at Dairy Drive -- both the residents and the support staff who worked so hard to make it a success. I wish I had begun working on this earlier in my five months on the job and had found a way to make a more convincing case. I wish I had more experience under my belt to navigate the process. But I realize that doesn’t offer much comfort when you're losing your home.

What's next: We need to fully fund the permanent men's shelter that is currently under construction on Bartillon Drive, scheduled to open this spring. Fortunately, there is much more support for this on the Council. In fact, we have a special Council meeting on September 30 dedicated to this project.

I will commit to investing in homeless services as best I can in the upcoming budget and beyond. I have heard from you in District 6 that you share this priority.

The greatness of a society is not measured by the towers it builds, nor its works of art, nor the might of its military, but by how it cares for its most vulnerable members.

Boards, Commissions, and Committee Meetings

Note: This is not a complete list of meetings for this upcoming week. All meetings and their details can be found at the Meeting Schedule page.

If you would like more information about becoming a member of a City board, commission, or committee, please visit the page linked here.

Announcements and News Releases

  • Intersection Closure — Bedford Street/W Dayton Street and Marion Street/W Dayton Street: Starting Monday, September 15th, City of Madison Traffic Engineering will close the intersections of W. Dayton Street/Bedford Street and W. Dayton Street/Marion Street to complete an asphalt art traffic calming project within these intersections… [posted September 11, 2025]
  • Project Update: Capital City Trail Storm Sewer Replacement: Contractors are postponing the start of the Capital City Trail Storm Sewer project and path closure in an effort to limit path closures as additional planning for path clearing and signing are being developed. Work is now anticipated to begin on… [posted September 10, 2025]
  • Asphalt Art to Improve Safety on Dayton Street: The intersections of W Dayton Street/N Bedford Street, W Dayton Street/Marion Street, and W Dayton Street/N Frances Street are about to receive an artistic makeover as part of a City of Madison project to assess the ability of asphalt art to improve… [posted September 10, 2025]
  • Madison Unveils Latest Efforts to Create More Housing : The City of Madison is continuing its efforts to create more housing with another round of initiatives. Today, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, members of the Common Council, and community groups including… [posted September 9, 2025]
  • Capital City Trail Storm Sewer Replacement Project: Storm sewer work will begin Monday, September 8th closing the Capital City Trail Path, from S Blount Street to Brearly Street. Bicyclists and Pedestrians will be detoured to E Main Street for the duration of the project. Temporary removal of parking… [posted September 8, 2025]
  • Octavia Ikard named next Madison Youth Poet Laureate: Madison Poet Laureate Steven Espada Dawson and the Madison Arts Commission are inviting the public to the opening reception and poetry reading for the City of Madison’s new Youth Poet Laureate, Octavia Ikard. [posted September 8, 2025]
  • City of Madison Celebrates the Recommissioning of Well 15, New PFAS Treatment Facility: Madison Water Utility’s drinking water well that was contaminated by PFAS is put back into service – Well 15 on Madison’s northeast side. [posted September 8, 2025]
  • Fall Leaves and Yard Waste Collection Begins in October 2025: The fall yard waste and leaves collection of 2025 begins in October. You will receive three guaranteed curbside set-out opportunities for leaf and yard waste pickup this fall. The exact dates when you should set out your leaves will depend on… [posted September 8, 2025]

Please visit the City news webpage to find additional news and announcements and to subscribe to receive notification of news releases as they are posted.

Events

Additional upcoming events can also be found on the City events calendar.

Was this page helpful to you?

District 6 - Alder Mayer

Alder Davy Mayer

Alder Davy Mayer

District 6
Contact Alder Mayer