UW-Madison student Angelito Tenorio is set to run for a position on the Dane County Board of Supervisors this April, challenging former UW-Madison College Democrats Chair Hayley Young.
If elected, Tenorio would oversee District 5, which includes the UW-Madison campus as well as part of the downtown area.
Tenorio said that despite his age he has a significant amount of political and leadership experience. Specifically, he has served as a Student Council representative and University Affairs chair with Associated Students of Madison, UW-Madison’s student government.
With ASM, Tenorio focuses extensively on mental health, sexual assault and other student issues, which he notes would remain his key initiatives if elected to the position.
Tenorio said he is interested in bringing affordable student housing to the board’s attention. Noting the low tenant-vacancy rate in Dane County and the consequently unequal distribution of power to landlords, Tenorio said he doesn’t “think students should be taken advantage of.”
He said he also wants to work with city government to address the “increasing number of luxury high-rise apartments that [students] just can’t afford.”
Additionally, Tenorio said he is interested in addressing the area’s homelessness problem, specifically the increasing number of homeless people on State Street and Capitol Square.
“From a fiscal perspective,[the city] would actually save money if [it] funded a shelter rather than sending [the homeless] to jail,” he said. “But from a human perspective, it’s freezing outside and these people need our help.”
According to Tenorio, the homelessness problem leads into the county’s problems with racial inequality, especially in the criminal justice system and mass incarceration rates among blacks.
“I think we need to focus on alternatives to arrest and incarceration,” he said.
Tenorio said he also wants to increase the county’s environmental sustainability efforts. He specifically names agricultural and industrial runoffs into the county’s lakes and waterways as a key issue, which he said lead to “phosphorus entering our water systems [and an increase] in algae growth.”
Tenorio first became interested in running for county government after meeting incumbent Leland Pan through ASM, whom announced in December he would not be running for re-election.
In order to get on the ballot for election, Tenorio had to gather nomination signatures by personally canvassing the District 5 area, which he said was an entirely new and exciting experience for him.
The election will take place April 5.
