Mayor Dave Cieslewicz won a second four-year term last Tuesday and plans to build on past successes with the help of a revamped City Council represented by nine new members and 11 returning alders.
Nearly 70 percent of UW-Madison students voted for the mayor, who said campus safety is one of his top priorities in his second term. Cieslewicz has already put $100,000 toward safety downtown and in the campus area. Still, he said, the effectiveness of the initiative must be determined before further action is taken.
""We will evaluate the downtown safety initiative at budget time, near the end of the summer, to determine what changes we might make in it for next year,"" Cieslewicz said. ""Since we are just beginning to implement the plan it's too early to know what adjustments we might make.""
Cieslewicz also said he does not plan to make many changes in his agenda. He said one of the reasons he was re-elected is because people liked what he did in his first term. Halloween ticketing, reduction in the density of bars downtown and continued street-car studies are likely to stay the course, the mayor said.
However, critics of Cieslewicz said during the campaign that violent crime—which recently spiked in Madison by 16 percent—is not being adequately addressed. Ray Allen, who lost to Cieslewicz by more than 11,000 votes, said the mayor has not focused on such things as financial inequality. Fighting crime and poverty were Allen's two most important issues during his run.
""The community is not concerned about streetcars,"" Allen said. ""This community is concerned about crime.""
Cieslewicz said he realizes that streetcars are not the most popular idea, but he compared them to the smoking ban, which has seen growing support since its inception. He said no action will be taken on the streetcar proposal until studies are completed.
Still, Cieslewicz now faces the challenge of a more inexperienced City Council. Eli Judge takes over the District 8 alder seat from current alder and City Council President Austin King. And while some faces will stay the same—Mike Verveer, District 4, and Robbie Webber, District 5—numerous seats have changed. Including Judge, nine new members join the 20 member council.
Besides inexperience, the City Council also is challenged by a lack of diversity. Only one minority—Thuy Pham-Remmele—will be an alder come April 17, when the new council is sworn in. Judge said the fact that Madison is a diverse community would provide a test to the Council. He said lack of diversity means more alders need to reach out to their constituents, especially minorities.
Cieslewicz said the new council will provide the city with numerous opportunities. He said their approach would probably differ slightly from previous years, but expects good results in the first year.
""With almost half the Council turning over we have an opportunity to create a culture of civility, reason and focus on city issues,"" Cieslewicz said. ""I'm looking forward to working with all of the new and continuing members.""
Also, when Council members are sworn in April 17 they will have the option to protest the gay marriage ban. The City Council passed the proposal in January.
In the other Dane County election news, Annette Zeigler defeated Linda Clifford for Supreme Court Justice. The race was one of the most expensive battles for the seat in Wisconsin history.
