If anyone truly cares about Madison, it's Brenda Konkel. After serving four terms as alder for Madison's 2nd district, Konkel lost her bid for re-election to Bridget Maniaci in 2009. Today she is currently the executive director of Madison's Tenant Resource Center.
While she was on the council, Konkel was known as Mayor Dave Cieslewicz' biggest critic. Since then, Konkel's continued this role through her blog, Forward Lookout. Besides covering nearly ever city-sponsored meeting or event, Konkel also investigates Madison's behind-the-scenes action through continual open records requests to various public officials.
In perhaps her most revealing story, Konkel took aim at Mayor Dave's 2010 European bike trip. Six months and many city ethics discussions later, Konkel is still hard at work.
With spring elections on the horizon, it would be interesting to see Konkel take her criticisms of Cieslewicz to the next level and run for mayor. Either way, she deserves a spot on our list.
—Dan Tollefson
