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Meeting and Event Highlights for the Week of December 1, 2025

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Weekly Update: From Falling Leaves to Winter Preparations

As November closes and December begins, we're in that familiar Madison transition - from raking leaves to preparing for alternate-side parking, from fall cleanup to winter readiness. And while the seasons change, the essential work of local government continues: making budget decisions that reflect our community's values and creating space for everyone's voice to be heard.

The Practical Stuff: Leaf Collection and Winter Parking

leaf collection is officially suspended for 2025 due to the weather.  Collection resumes in the spring of 2026.

As we transition to winter, it's worth reviewing the updates to the Alternate Side Parking Program. The City has been working to improve safety, efficiency, and communication during winter months - because getting snow removal right matters for everyone who lives here, works here, and navigates our streets.

This Week's Critical Meetings

Some weeks, the meeting calendar tells you exactly what a community values. This week is one of those weeks.

Monday, December 1st - Finance Committee (4:30 PM, virtual)

The Finance Committee will consider awarding up to $13,963,000 from the Affordable Housing Fund to support four affordable housing development projects.

Let me be clear about what this means: These aren't abstract numbers in a spreadsheet. This is $14 million invested in homes for families, stability for workers, and the kind of neighborhood vitality that makes Madison work for everyone - not just those who can afford market-rate housing.

This is what it looks like when budgets become moral documents. When we say housing is a priority, this is how we prove it - with actual dollars allocated to actual projects that will create actual homes.

Why This Matters:

Our community faces a housing crisis. Rents continue to climb. Working families struggle to find affordable places to live near their jobs. Young people can't afford to stay in the city they love. Every time we fail to invest in affordable housing, we're making a choice - we're choosing to let the market determine who gets to live here, who gets to stay here, and who gets pushed out.

This $14 million investment is a choice too. It's a choice to say that housing isn't just a commodity - it's a foundation for stable lives, thriving neighborhoods, and an economically diverse city.

How to Engage:

Monday, December 1st - Plan Commission (5:30 PM, virtual)

The Plan Commission will discuss creating a new housing type called "cottage courts" in Madison's ordinances.

This is part of the Housing Forward initiative - the kind of innovative thinking we need to address our housing shortage. Cottage courts are small, clustered homes oriented around shared courtyards. They create housing options between single-family homes and apartment buildings, offering density that supports walkability and transit while maintaining neighborhood character.

Why Process Matters:

Housing Forward has been going through the proper process - public hearings, community input, committee deliberation. This is how good policy gets made: not through rushed floor amendments or backroom deals, but through transparent, democratic process where community voices shape the outcome.

When people show up to testify, when committees take time to deliberate, when we allow space for competing priorities to be weighed and balanced - that's when we get policy that actually serves the community instead of just scoring political points.

How to Engage:

Wednesday, December 3rd - Board of Public Works (4:30 PM, virtual

Public works projects affecting districts across the city. These are the infrastructure decisions that keep our city functioning - streets, sidewalks, utilities, the essential systems we rely on every day.

How to Engage:

Upcoming Community Opportunities

Tuesday, December 2nd:

Public Information Meeting - Carpenter-Ridgeway Park Bike Playground and Skills Track (virtual via Zoom) - The City is seeking input on this project. Advanced registration required. More information https://www.cityofmadison.com/parks/events/2025-12-02/public-information-meeting-carpenter-ridgeway-park

Far West Operations Building Public Information Meeting (6:00 PM via Zoom) - Registration required. [More information](https://www.cityofmadison.com/engineering/events/2025-12-02/far-west-op…)

What Budgets Tell Us About Values

I talk a lot about budgets as moral documents, and this week shows exactly what I mean. When we allocate $14 million to affordable housing, we're not just moving money around - we're declaring our priorities. We're saying that in Madison, everyone deserves a stable place to call home. We're saying that housing is a public good, not just a private commodity.

But here's the thing about moral documents: they only reflect our values if we all participate in writing them. That's why public comment matters. That's why showing up to Finance Committee or Plan Commission matters. That's why your voice - yes, yours - matters in shaping what kind of city we become.

When Federal and State Systems Fail, Local Government Becomes Everything

We're living through a time when federal and state governments increasingly abandon their responsibilities to working families. Affordable housing funding gets cut. Tenant protections get weakened. The social safety net frays.

That's exactly when local government becomes essential. When larger systems fail communities, we're the ones who have to pick up the pieces. We're the ones who have to figure out how to house people, how to keep neighborhoods safe and vibrant, how to maintain the services that let people build stable lives.

That's not a burden - it's an opportunity. It's an opportunity to show that democracy can still work, that government can still respond to community needs, that ordinary people's voices can still shape the decisions that affect their lives.

But only if we protect the democratic processes that make responsive government possible. Only if we resist the temptation to bypass public input when it's inconvenient. Only if we insist that community voice matters more than political theater.

Looking Ahead

December brings more budget decisions, more opportunities for community input, and more chances to shape the city we're building together. I'll keep showing up to these meetings, asking the hard questions, and fighting for a Madison that works for everyone - not just those with the loudest voices or the deepest pockets.

Thank you for staying engaged. Thank you for speaking up. Thank you for believing that your participation matters.

Because it does.

In solidarity,

Alder Glenn

Stay Connected:

- All city meetings: [Meeting Schedule] https://www.cityofmadison.com/city-hall/committees/meeting-schedule

- City news and announcements: [City News] https://www.cityofmadison.com/news

- Upcoming events: [City Events Calendar] https://www.cityofmadison.com/events

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District 18 - Alder Glenn

Portrait of Alder Carmella Glenn

Alder Carmella Glenn

District 18
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