As much as mayoral candidates Peter MuAoz and Ray Allen would like you to believe otherwise, a vote for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is not a vote for streetcars in Madison.
For the last several months both MuAoz and Allen have been trying to make April's mayoral election a referendum on the city's controversial streetcar proposal.
Now Mayor Cieslewicz has made a decision that is wise both politically and practically. The mayor has proposed that the city hold a binding referendum on the proposal developed by his streetcar committee this summer.
Pending approval by Madison's city council, the referendum should distance the mayor from the trolleys. And that is the way it ought to be.
The citizens of Madison deserve the opportunity to have an up or down vote on streetcars after the group studying the trolley system announces its findings and its suggestions for Madison.
Furthermore, it would have been unfair if the mayoral election hinged on the single issue of streetcars, considering that we do not know where the streetcars lines may be placed or how much the system might cost.
Contrary to the common misconception, so far the streetcars haven't cost the citizens of Madison a dime. A federal grant of $300,000 is paying for the study group to analyze if streetcars are a viable option for Madison.
The study group thinks that the streetcar system might have about five to seven miles of track at an estimated cost of about $15 million per mile. But these are simply estimates.
It would be silly to judge the streetcars on these shaky figures and it would be even worse if this shaky data ended up playing a major role in April's mayoral election.
Streetcars could be a way to make our downtown area and suggested corridors along University Avenue and South Park Street more dense, urban and pedestrian friendly.
Other cities, such as Tacoma, Wash., and Little Rock, Ark., claim streetcars have brought their cities hundreds of millions of dollars in private economic development.
Streetcars also just might be an expensive boondoggle, which does little more than add to congestion of the already crowded streets on the Isthmus.
The mayoral election should be about more than just Mayor Dave's affinity for trolleys. And streetcars deserve their own day at the ballot box.
This referendum will give all mayoral candidates and the streetcars a fair shake.
