On a night when the State of the State was the interest of most voters, Madison's six mayoral candidates continued their respective campaigns for the city's highest position in front of an audience of 154 people.
Aware of the more publicized political event only blocks away in the Capitol, Mayor Sue Bauman started the night's forum with, \The state of the state is bad, the state of the city is excellent.""
The candidates fielded a range of questions about the future of State Street, the relations between Madison and surrounding towns and the historic preservation of buildings on the isthmus.
""I think it was a good discussion of the issues,"" Bauman said.
Some questions brought about lengthy responses, while others were answered more succinctly. When asked how to solve the problem of the degradation of Madison's lakes, Will Sandstrom replied, ""Stop degrading them.""
Among the passionately debated issues of the night was that of gentrification of State Street. Davy Mayer, along with other candidates, expressed a need to nurture small businesses and prevent corporate domination of the infamous strip.
""I think gentrification was definitely the biggest issue,"" Dave Cieslewicz said.
Former Mayor Paul Soglin emphasized the uniqueness of State Street in voicing his opposition to gentrification.
Sandstrom, while not responding to the issue of gentrification, addressed State Street's safety, claiming a rise in the criminal element in the area.
Along a similar line was the topic of the preservation of buildings on the city's isthmus. Bauman and Cieslewicz voiced a desire to preserve the historic integrity of the downtown area and called for the construction of high-rise buildings only where appropriate.
The question of Madison's ""fight for property tax,"" as Bert Zipperer said, with neighboring communities such as Verona and Middleton also elicited strong responses from the mayoral hopefuls. Cieslewicz echoed the thoughts of many of his competitors in saying that Madison's city government needs to build stronger relationships with surrounding units of government.
Mandatory inclusionary zoning, which would force developers to include a certain amount of affordable housing with new projects, served as one of the few topics to stir disagreement amongst the candidates. Zipperer and Cieslewicz argued for a mandatory program for inclusionary zoning, with the latter trying to assuage fears of a resulting exodus of developers from Madison.
""Every part of town will have affordable housing along with social, economic and racial interaction,"" Zipperer said.
Mayer brought up the point of voluntary inclusionary zoning, with incentives for those who would comply.
Though the candidates agreed that the night showcased productive discussion, they expressed belief that the constituency was still largely undecided. Cieslewicz and Soglin cited a need for the candidates to distinguish their views from each other in order to provide a clear choice for voters in the primary Feb. 18.
