In roughly a week and a half, the spring elections will be here, and UW-Madison students will have to cast ballots helping decide the outcome of the county executive and state Supreme Court justice races, amongst others. An important election that will no doubt have direct consequences on local students is the District 8 alderman race between Bryon Eagon and Mark Woulf. District 8, which is comprised almost exclusively of students, is currently represented by Eli Judge, who is stepping down this year. Just before we all left for spring break, Judge—an excellent Alder in his own right —cast his support for Eagon, and for good reason. So far, Eagon has demonstrated far more dedication and responsibility for the position of District 8 alder than Woulf, showing he is the better candidate.
The big issue in this race is safety, both on campus and in surrounding neighborhoods populated by students. Both candidates in the alder race promise to focus on student safety and, in particular, cutting back on bar raids, which are meant to catch underage drinkers in the act. Eagon and Woulf rightfully point out the major flaw of such raids: The police spending their time in bars trying to catch underage drinkers are not out patrolling streets where more serious crimes such as assaults and muggings take place. Both aldermanic hopefuls also intend to increase Judge's plan to improve lighting in campus areas.
However, Eagon takes a more creative approach, in that he also has plans to initiate neighborhood watch programs, a cab-stand service and other programs to aid in reducing crime and increasing campus safety. In addition, these services aim to keep costs at a minimum, a particularly important feature in these rough economic times. Apart from reducing bar raids and increasing the scope of Judge's original lighting project, Woulf does not seem to bring any new ideas to the table.
Another topic that has come up frequently is tenant rights. This is especially important here, as most students enter into their first rental agreements while at college and are unaware of the rights they may have. Woulf brings a few good ideas here by suggesting opening a small -claims-type court to handle disputes between landlords and residents, encouraging more frequent building inspections and pushing signing dates for leases back so that we are not pressured into signing a lease by October. Eagon also promotes more regulated building inspections, as well as encourages students to partake in a landlord-rating website initiated by Judge. In addition, Eagon provides a few other ideas in terms of updating entry keypads, increasing security deposit interest return percentages and regulating when landlords can and cannot enter housing units. What Eagon and Woulf both aim to do is commendable and needed, but Woulf's direct approach with a small-claims-type hearing for disputes is preferred over Eagon's more passive initiatives.
In environmental issues, Eagon again appears to be much stronger than Woulf. On his website, Woulf denounces the Charter Street coal plant and suggests a cleaner co-generation power plant that utilizes natural gas. Though a good idea, this would undoubtedly be an extremely costly change, one that is likely to be out of budget for the city of Madison. Eagon, meanwhile, looks to begin filtering the lakes, particularly Mendota, in addition to expanding bike paths and increasing the total number of hybrid buses. Cleaning up the lakes is a necessary, albeit lengthy, process that must be started sooner rather than later, and encouraging people to bike more by improving bike paths is also a great means of helping the environment with a low price tag.
Although both candidates for District 8 alder are well-qualified for the position, it is Eagon who outshines Woulf on the majority of issues most important to students here at UW-Madison. Although some critics of Eagon point out that he is only using the position of alder as a stepping stone into a larger political career, this should not matter. If anything, it only shows a dedication and commitment to performing admirably as an alder. Thus, Bryon Eagon is a better candidate for District 8 alder than Mark Woulf.
Ryan Dashek is a junior majoring in biology. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
