University of Wisconsin-Madison sophomore Ellen Zhang announced her candidacy for the open student seat on Madison’s Common Council Dec. 2, pushing for expanded public transportation, affordable public housing and additional food support for students.
“I’m running on a sense of urgency, driven by the state and federal governments actively working to restrict both city and university autonomy,” Zhang told The Daily Cardinal. “While there’s a lot of energy focused on national-level issues, I want to emphasize that all organizing for social progress starts locally.”
Zhang is the second candidate to join the race after Robert "Bobby" Gronert announced his candidacy in November for the District 8 seat. Alder MGR Govinadrajan announced he would not seek reelection on Nov. 24.
Zhang hopes to use her spot on the Common Council to serve UW-Madison students on a greater level. “Although there’s a lot of energy to organize and resist on campus, there’s also a disconnect: students don’t immediately recognize where the City can provide solutions to day-to-day issues,” she said. “Everything from the cost of housing, access to groceries, and bus routes are city issues that have improved with the aid of local pressure.”
Affordable housing is central to both Zhang and Gronert’s campaigns as UW-Madison students face a housing crisis.
“I am running because students are facing an affordability crisis and it’s critical that we address it urgently.” Zhang said in a Dec. 2 statement.
Zhang plans to introduce a public food policy in response to concerns on campus food insecurity. Zhang also wants to improve public transportation by introducing an east-bound 80 bus route and connecting campus to the Dane County Regional Airport on the Bus Rapid Transit system.
Growing up in an immigrant community, Zhang said she believes every citizen deserves to live with dignity. Zhang told the Cardinal she sees Madison as a tight-knit community with strong activism and wants to keep the city safe.
“The ICE arrests in Madison in October and earlier this year were an alarming signal that grassroots activism alone is not enough,” Zhang said. “As a representative for the people, I’d work to cement explicit protections [against] such attacks into city law, particularly prohibiting ICE agents from using municipal property and having very explicit signage saying immigration enforcement cannot use our property for processing, as an operations base or as a staging area, similar to a policy enacted by Chicago.”
