Madison’s City Council failed in its second attempt to override a mayoral veto blocking a new billboard ordinance at its meeting Tuesday, despite testimony from community members favoring the addition of billboards.
Ald. John Strasser, District 14, who was absent from the Council’s last meeting, asked for reconsideration of the ordinance, which allowed those opposing the ordinance’s rejection to try again to acquire the two-thirds majority needed to override Mayor Paul Soglin’s veto.
Opponents of the ordinance, which would allow for current billboard refurbishment as well as freeze the number of billboards in Madison, argued that the ordinance did not serve Madison’s tradition of fully eliminating billboards.
“Council after council, for decades, we have worked conscientiously to minimize the number of billboards in the city,” Soglin said. “This is the first step backwards in over 40 years in that regard.”
During public testimony, Jt Covelli, president at Jt Covelli Marketing & Media Resources, argued that city billboards were necessary for her to reach the critical millenial demographic, which she characterized as “pumping money into our economy by millions of dollars.”
“Millenials are different. They do not watch TV, they seldom listen to the radio, they do not read a newspaper. And they have put brick and mortar in danger,” Covelli said. “The way I reach these folks is by using outdoor [billboards].”
Ald. Chris Schmidt, District 11, pushed for overriding the veto and favoring the ordinance.
“What we have in front of us is a workable ordinance. We’ve spent a lot of time working out the details,” Schmidt said. “And remember, if there’s something going wrong we can repeal these things very quickly.”
The length of debate proved frustrating for councilmembers.
“I do not appreciate an hour and ten minutes of the same debate that we had [last meeting],” Ald. Steve King, District 7, said.
“At this point, I believe the councilmembers have entertained the argument that was in front of us now for multiple meetings on end … we’ve seen the evidence, and the outcome was the same as last meeting,” Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said.
A third attempt to override the mayoral veto is unlikely, according to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4.
In a separate decision, Council members greenlighted the administrative process leading to the creation of Madison’s pilot police body camera program, although the sole public speaker Cristina Lor expressed concern and disapproval for the initiative, fearing the program’s effectiveness.
“In the case of Eric Garner there was footage of his death, and there was no justice served in my opinion,” Lor said. “I know a lot of people who oppose it, but there’s only one person speaking out on it tonight.”
In contrast, an emergency provision to provide a grocery store shuttle service for Allied and Dunn’s Marsh neighborhood residents passed unanimously.
