UW-Madison junior Mark Woulf unveiled his platform for Madison's District 8 alder race last night in the Humanities Building, focusing on underage-drinking policies, student-tenant rights and green energy.
Woulf, 20, said his number-one issue is student safety, especially regarding underage drinking. He also wants to make sure Madison police deal with the issue realistically.
We're not going to prevent underage drinking ... What we need to do now is look for ways to keep the students safe when they drink,"" Woulf said. According to Woulf, one major problem is that underage students have nowhere to go on weekends, which leads to binge drinking at house parties and in residence halls.
""Bars must open their doors to 18- to 20-year-olds,"" Woulf said. Woulf said he would encourage bar owners to buy entertainment licenses, so they could permit minors without serving them alcohol, and bring in live entertainment to attract them. Although the licenses cost $250 per year, Woulf said bar owners could charge cover fees and make up the loss.
Woulf also spoke about student-tenant rights and proposed setting a new mandatory date for renewing leases so students could wait until after winter break to consider re-signing.
""We're forced to tell a lot of apartment buildings '¦ whether or not we're returning in October. That's ridiculous,"" Woulf said.
Woulf said he would also like to create a small claims court specifically for tenants and landlords to settle disputes over security deposits, property damage and maintenance-related issues.
""Basically what I'm fighting against is the outrageous fines and fees that come out of these very tedious leases,"" Woulf said.
Woulf joins Bryon Eagon, Katrina Flores and Jacob Schmidt as candidates for the District 8 alder position. The current alder, Eli Judge, will be leaving the position this spring.
