The Elizabeth Link Peace Park Advisory Committee jumped through its last administrative hoop in its pursuit of official standing Tuesday when it received unanimous support from the Common Council, but not before the committee's makeup was altered to include Ald. Todd Jarrell, District 8.
Peace Park has garnered attention in recent months as competing groups have argued over the park's future, with some members of the community wanting to place a public carousel in the open area near the top of State Street.
To address the possible public improvements for the park, Downtown Madison Inc. developed a committee of stakeholders to advise the mayor and the Council on future developments. The proposed committee included 12 voting members from the downtown area, all selected so that no group could dominate the decision-making process, according to Jarrell, who was a non-voting member of the group.
The council approved the idea of the Peace Park Advisory Committee but moved to strike the voting position held by the UW-Madison Chancellor's Office and added Jarrell and Ald. Paul Skidmore, District 9, as voting members.
'I just felt the chancellor's office wasn't as large of a stakeholder as ASM or [the alders],' Jarrell said.
Concerns were raised in the meeting over the localized makeup of the committee, which exclusively represented downtown Madison.
The addition of a second voting alder was necessary to maintain an overall city outlook for the park according to Ald. Linda Bellman, District 1.
'I think for there to be progress, there has to be input from other constituents in the city,' Bellman said.
Skidmore was the unanimous choice for the position due to his years of experience on the Board of Parks Commissioners.
'I really think [Skidmore] would be appropriate for this committee,' Ald. Cindy Thomas, District 7 said.
Susan Schmitz, president of DMI, testified at the public hearing that the council's changes would not affect the precarious balance of the committee.
Thomas also decided earlier in the evening to reconsider her decision to approve the striking of the word 'prayers' from the council's expression of condolences for the terrorist attacks of Sept 11.
Some council members said they felt ridiculed after the body voted to replace 'prayers' with 'sympathies' at its Sept. 25 meeting.
'I made a mistake on Sept 25,' Thomas said.
With Thomas switching her vote the measure passed on 10-0 count, with half of the council abstaining.
