Monona Drive Photos September 4, 2010

I have posted a new batch of Monona Drive photos over on Photobucket. My last photo post was from July 24, 2010. Much progress has been made. The city is planning a celebration on September 25.

In fact, I think one of the photos shows the last short section of unpaved street in front of Walgreen's (except for the driveway gaps that ned to be filled in).

Can anyone identify this strange sliver of concrete??

The last unpaved section of street is right where it belongs - under the paver.

Monona Transit Committee Meets September 8

The Monona Transit Committee meets next Wednesday, September 8 at 6 PM at City Hall

 
Here's the agenda.

Representatives from the RTA are expected to be on hand to talk and listen.

Date: Wed - 09/08/2010


Time: 6:00 PM


Location: Monona City Hall, 5211 Schluter Rd., Large Conference Room

New Speed Limit Signs

Addendum: As I note in a comment below, the Mayor has directed that these signs be relocated to a more appropriate location in non-residential or less residential area. Normal-sized speed display signs (without the solar array) will be installed on Winnequah.

[BEGIN ORIGINAL POST]

If you haven't driven down the lower part of Winnequah Road in Monona since yesterday, you might want to do so and check out the new variable speed display signs. They are, in a word, large. Others have offered more pungent descriptions.

The pictures don't really do it justice.

I did notice drivers slowing down when it flashed at them for exceeding the speed limit.

The Draegers have a new view from their bench.

Three Card Sunny

In this week's Herald Independent, our very own Sunny goes on about the RTA again. (Note that in these environs, Ms. S. is a big enough cheese to go by one name, like one of the those Brazilian futbal players.) I swear the anti-train people are as obsessed with trains as any foamer I ever met. To me, trains are just another way to move products and people.

Her column yesterday, left a number of questions in my mind. It reminded me of a game of three card monty wherein the goal of the purveyor is to distract (and then fleece) the sap who stops to watch.

Unless you take her suppositions, inferences, and arguments on faith (not advised), I guess her dear readers have to chase down each loose strand. Lucky for you, I'm taking a furlough today. [BEGIN ADDENDUM] I am adding this note to emphasize that Sunny is correct (pass the smelling salts for Sunny, please) on one point: If the RTA takes Metro's operations they will have to honor Metro's labor contracts per the state law (quoted below) that created the possibility of the RTA.   

Sunny doesn't like Madison Metro's overtime costs. She claims that Paul Soglin explained to her how the drivers cooperate with each other to get more overtime by manipulating the sick leave system. She claims the RTA will be stuck with Metro's labor contract if RTA takes over bus service within the region. She claims, as does alder Veserat, that the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) is a federal law that prevents employers from negating labor contracts (collective bargaining agreements) even if they make a dramatic change in their "business plan".

[Actually, I've only ever heard Mike ask, "But what about the FLSA!". The first time I heard this exclamation, I thought maybe he meant the FMLN, which was rather concerning if it meant that Salvadoran rebels had seized control of Madison Metro. He says it sort of like it's a rhetorical question and the listener should know what he means. Some discomfort follows.]

But, the FLSA is a federal wage and hour law that sets the minimum wage, requires overtime pay for some workers, and the like. It doesn't have anything to do with collective bargaining agreements. That would be the NLRA (National Labor Relations Act). My recollection is that employers actually can void labor contracts in some circumstances, not that I advocate such a course.

But, now I'm still thinking maybe Mike really means the FMLA (Family And Medical Leave Act). Here's Wisconsin's version.

STATE LAW: When I inquired this morning, Sunny sent me the section from the statute that created the RTA. It explicitly states that the RTA "shall assume all of the employer's obligations under any contract between the employees and management of the system to the extent allowed by law". Sec. 66.1039 (6) (a).

Sheesh, if she'd said that in The View, I could have read a book or something....

But, but, but....this report to the Madison City Council provides some interesting data. Madison Metro has successfully reduced overtime per driver by about 50% since 1998. And at mid-year, total OT hours had dropped 20% from 2009 to 2010. Metro and Mayor Cieslewicz recognize the problems and are attempting to resolve them. Also, the collective bargaining agreement expired January 1, 2010 and negotiations for a new one are ongoing.

So, we finally arrive at the proposed referendum before the Monona council. The proposed referendum does not ask whether the voters think commuter rail is a good idea, as former alder Dale Suslick's letter to the editor states.

Put in those terms, the proposed referendum really asks whether commuter rail is the only idea. The RTA can raise the sales tax by a maximum of a half-cent. The referendum asks if we want to spend all of it on a commuter train.

Here's the actual proposed question:

“Shall commuter rail from the City of Middleton to the Town of Burke be funded by a half-cent (0.5%) increase in the sales tax?"

If you wanted to know whether voters want commuter rail, you could just ask them that exact question:
Do you want commuter rail?
Or you could ask, Should the RTA spend any money on commuter rail?
Or, Should the RTA spend part of the sales tax on trains and part on buses?
Or, Should the RTA spend part of the sales tax on trains and part on buses and part on park and ride lots and part on bike paths?

Of course, it is hard to decide what the right question is, let alone the right answer, before the RTA produces its transit plan.


So, another real question is why do the political leaders who are pushing this referendum want to have a referendum before it is ready for decision?

If we had such a half-baked question brought before the council on any run-of-the-mill, non-political item, it would be tossed back to committee for further development.

***

 

Final question: Sunny's a big cheese, but what kind of cheese?

Monona Farmers Market - For Everyone

The following message floated in through the electronic mail slot the other day from Ross Cohen, the manager of the the Monona Farmers Market announcing that the market will accept Wisconsin food stamps beginning September 12.

[BEGIN MESSAGE]

Did you know that in Wisconsin 333,000 citizens currently receive an average of $170 each month in food stamps? That is over $56 million in government subsidies each month, all of which could be used to purchase soda and candy bars if that’s what the people chose to buy. This is why; when I became the Manager for the Monona Farmers Market this year I made it my top priority to be able to accept EBT (WI Food stamps) at the market.

I am pleased to announce that thanks to a donation from the Monona Hills Living Community and a generous grant from an anonymous donor through the Madison Community Foundation to fund the equipment needed, the Monona Farmers Market is now accepting EBT (WI Food stamps).

This is extremely important because it insures that all residents have access to the local, sustainable, and healthy food that is available at the market each week. This opportunity will also allow for WI tax payer dollars to remain in the local economy and to support our local family farms.

On September 12, the Monona Farmers Market will be kicking off their EBT acceptance program as well as holding their annual Art and Crafts Fair.


The Monona Farmers Market is located at Ahuska Park on E. Broadway from 9-1 every Sunday, May-October. For more information please visit www.mononafarmersmarket.com.


Ross Cohen
Monona Farmers Market Manager

[END MESSAGE]

Where the heck is it?

600 E. Broadway at Ahuska Park.

When?

Sundays from 9 AM to

May 2 - October 31, 2010

9:00 am to 1:00 pm

at Ahuska Park

Nichols School History

I recently came across my copy of this 1980 booklet produced by the Monona Landmarks Commission. Don't know if you can still buy this booklet or not. I thought the entry on Nichols School might be of interest.

The realtor who sold us our first house on Owen Road in 1985 wrote a short note on the inside cover:

Welcome to Monona. I'm confident you will find it a very nice place to live.

Cari Fuss' Perspective on Monona's Loan and Grant Programs

I asked former CDA Chair Cari Fuss to add her thoughts and she graciously sent the following:


Hi Doug,

Thanks for the follow up on these programs. These programs are critical to the stability of our tax base, now and into the future.

We do not qualify as a community for many of the programs that larger cities like Madison do, simply because of our population, housing stock, and city staffing levels. The City of Madison has an entire department dedicated to forwarding the cause of affordable housing and working on Block Grant programs (and other things like the ill-fated “IZ” program) that are funded with local AND federal dollars. The last time I visited that office in the course of business it was staffed with four or more full time employees. In Monona, we simply don't have the resources to staff City Hall in that way, and as such, volunteers like those who are appointed to the CDA work on these types of issues in a part time capacity under the direction of City Council.

As I researched options for our community in my time on the CDA, it was apparent to me that we needed to pursue options that allowed us to initiate a program where the rules could be written by OUR community, and not mandated by the federal government (as is the case with many of the HUD programs) due to the fact that it would be difficult for us to accomplish many of the program mandates.

Also, my research led me to believe that many federally funded programs will potentially be at risk in the future as funding sources are strained and budget issues arise - and, many of the programs are competitive, meaning that Monona may not qualify now or in the long term.

As such, using the change to state law that allowed the extension of TIF for this purpose accomplishes much for our community that we wouldn't otherwise be able to achieve. We write the rules and we control the funds. AND, we have a solid, predictable funding source that will grow as we experience continued success in our commercial development areas. Not to mention that there is a pay-it-forward mentality here, in that the monies come back to us when ownership changes occur or in 10 years, whichever comes first. So, we get the money back AFTER the investment in the housing stock is made, and we turn around and lend it out again for further improvement and investment.

And the other poster is right.....it's pretty easy in Madison if you dig, which is why we are building a program now that is easy and will continue to grow for Monona. Please contact City Hall to discuss updated forecasts with our City Finance Director, Marc Houttaker - but when I left the CDA, our forecasts predicted a revolving fund that should grow to several hundred thousand dollars (a boon for a community of our size) within the next 5 or 6 years. I won't go into details here, but I am sure City staff can fill you in.

Which brings me to the business Facade Grant program. Our community relies heavily on our commercial tax base to make things like fire and ambulance service, trash pickup, water and sewer services, road and utility reconstruction, excellent city parks and public facilities such as our pool and a quality school district possible and affordable for our relatively small community. Fostering development and continuous improvement in our commercial tax base is critical to the future of our community, and Facade Grant programs are often successful in creating additional investment, and thereby tax base, than might otherwise occur.

Again, I won't bore you with the details, but as we studied North Monona Drive at the CDA level, it was very apparent that over time, investment and/or reinvestment has not occurred in this commercial area of our community. Call City Staff to discuss how that has negatively impacted the average homeowner's tax bill in our community. You will be very surprised. This lack of reinvestment has created a notable lack of equality in tax assessment growth when compared to other areas in our commercial tax base. We must continue to be proactive as a community about pursuing, funding, and encouraging opportunities for businesses investing in our community, now and in the long term.

Please remember that for every dollar that we invest in our community's real estate and business growth and improvement, there is a return. And, even if that return only guarantees stability (which is probably the case in an economy such as we are experiencing now and which should be accomplished through the checks and balances associated with our application and underwriting processes), that puts us ahead of many (if not most!) of our peer communities state wide.

These issues are difficult and there are many moving parts to both the problems and the potential solutions. I understand where some of the previous posters' "questioning" comes in - isn't it that way it is with any new program? I would encourage people to ask questions and get involved and find out how you can participate and/or benefit. The Renew Monona housing program will be significant for our community and will provide a model for other communities across the state who struggle with the very same issues that we do.

Thanks for the opportunity to provide some clarity on these programs. As I work in communities throughout Dane County, it is apparent that Monona's progressive and aggressive approach to dealing with our aging housing stock and growth in our commercial sector will benefit ALL of us who pay taxes well into the future.

Sincerely,


Cari Fuss

Tammy Baldwin Wins Award for Service to Local Governments

Thanks to Jim Guilfoil for passing along this good news. Jim urges us to write to Barry Orton at the WaxingAmerica.org website and thank him for his efforts in support of community access telecom legislation.



Tammy Baldwin To Receive Jane Lawton Award From NATOA

I'm really pleased about this: next month Rep. Tammy Baldwin will receive the Jane E Lawton Commemorative Award from the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA). NATOA presents the award annually to an elected official to recognize extraordinary service on behalf of local governments and communities throughout the United States. It was created in memory of the Honorable Jane E. Lawton, who served as Mayor of Chevy Chase, MD; Delegate to the Maryland State House; and President of NATOA.

NATOA selected Baldwin for her continued support for local government in communications, most notably the introduction of the Community Access Preservation Act (H.R. 3745).

- Barry Orton

Monona City Council Report - August 30

We had an interesting and informative Monona city council meeting, but no fireworks or controversy.

Chris James of Dane County Parks Department talked about the plan for the Capital Springs State Recreation Area located just south of Monona. Here's a map of the whole park.

The plan includes a new dog park just across Lake Farm Road from the Lake Farm County park and Lussier Heritage Center! The plan also includes a Lower Yahara River Bike Trail connecting Lake Farm County Park with the Village of McFarland and associated railroad trestle widening.


Dane County Supervisor Robin Schmidt spoke briefly on the RTA. She reported on a revised and reduced Radio Interoperability plan, which I really hope we aren't asked to see, review, and approve, pronto!

Robin has proposed an ordinance to more clearly define when a no wake declaration will be made on Lake Monona. Up until now, the decision has been by the squeaky wheel method. Robin advances rational thinking!

We had a lengthy report and discussion with City Engineer Rich Vela and BT Squared Civil & Environmental Engineering about the Belle Isle Road 2011 project planning. They have developed a concept design plan that will be presented to the Public Works Committee this Wednesday. Sounds like they have followed a good public input process and developed a workable plan. The big challenge is getting water off the road and into the lake and then keeping it that way.
 
There was some discussion about the long-planned dredging of the lagoons and how to use fill to address the persistent flooding in Oneida Park. 
 
The council approved CDA recommendations for the “Renew Monona” Program Loans with some $35,000 in no-interest going to four homeowner renewal projects.


The council also approved the award of a contract for the demolition at 608 Clear Spring Court. This building is being razed because it is "dangerous, unsafe, unsanitary, and otherwise unfit for human habitation". Drive by and take a look. Yikes. (After I whined about not being informed of the project, I was informed that we had previously approved asbestos removal from the same structure. But having been born in Missouri - my parents didn't trust the hospital in my smallish hometown in Southern Illinois - I'll have to see that to believe it.).

No action was taken and only brief discussion had on the proposed RTA referendum. Alder Kugle read a long list of other Dane County communities who have placed it on the ballot....the results of which will tell us pretty much nothing! I'll beat that dead horse senseless in a future posting.

Mayor Kahl announced that Meriter now plans to construct a 57,000 square foot building rather than the 43,000 sq. ft. they originally planned. (By the way, the council did approve that agreement on August 16, which I think I somehow forgot to blog. Well, you get what you pay for.).

Earlier in the evening, the Finance and Personnel Committee approved a $7500 Facade Improvement grant to Taco Johns and some $3000 to the Village Pedaler. Details are here.

Monona City Council Preview - August 30, 2010

The Monona City Council meets tomorrow (Monday, August 30) at 7:30 PM in the Media Room at the Library. The full agenda.

We will be getting three reports to start the information portion of the evening. Chris James of Dane County Parks Department will speak about the Capital Springs State Recreation Area (this includes the status the proposed bike trail connecting Lake Farm County Park with the Village of McFarland and associated railroad trestle widening).

Also on tap:

• Dane County Supervisor Robin Schmidt (RTA, Radio Interoperability, and Other County Issues)
• City Engineer Rich Vela and BT Squared Civil & Environmental Engineering: Belle Isle Planning/Engineering Update.

Also Consideration of Resolution 10-08-1718 Requiring a Referendum on the Levying of a Sales Tax to Fund Commuter Rail (Aldermen Kugle, Wiswell, Veserat). This referendum would ask us Monona voters if we want to use the entire half-cent sales tax increase for commuter rail. What a question! Heck, I don't think anyone would support using all of the sales tax increase just from commuter rail. I sure wouldn't (I might not support using any of it for that purpose).

As I've said before, this referendum is premature and a distraction. We ought to be focused on telling the RTA Board what Monona wants out of a planned regional transit system (like other communitiess are doing).

The Monona Transit meeting did not reach a conclusion and has scheduled another meeting for September 8 when RTA Board members and staff will attend.

I expect the council vote will be delayed until after that meeting (We can approve the referendum at our September 20 meeting and be in time for the November ballot).

See my prior posts on this topic.
http://mononadoug.blogspot.com/2010/08/monona-transit-meeting-on-august-25.html

http://mononadoug.blogspot.com/2010/08/rtas-draft-principles-for-regional.html

http://mononadoug.blogspot.com/2010/08/lets-play-hypothetical-referendum.html

http://mononadoug.blogspot.com/2010/08/dane-county-rta-status.html

http://mononadoug.blogspot.com/2010/08/monona-city-council-preview-august-16.html


The council is also asked to approve at a first reading: Consideration of Resolution 10-08-1722 Approval of CDA Recommendations for “Renew Monona” Program Loans (CDA).


and Consideration of Resolution 10-08-1723 Award of Contract for Demolition at 608 Clear Spring Court (City Administrator). CORRECTION. This building is being razed because it is "dangerous, unsafe, unsanitary, and otherwise unfit for human habitation".  This is one of the properties the CDA acquired in the past year.

The council will have a first reading on changing the status of the Sustainability Committee [Consideration of Ordinance 8-10-616 Reconstituting the Sustainability Committee to that of a Standing Committee (Alderman Wood, Alderman Munson)].

Finally, the Mayor has knocked it out of the park with his nomination of James Pflasterer to the Monona Police and Fire Commission. He is the former General Counsel for the state's Labor and Industry Review Commission.

Little Bits of Unrelated Stuff

Or as the editor said the Wire, "li'l bit".

Unrelated stuff that's been fighting to get out of head through my fingertips.

You should read this article about two billionaire brothers funding attacks on Obama  by Jane Mayer on the
New Yorker. Mayer is also the author of brilliant book The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals (read my review of the book here). The Kochs made their billions in oil and are also funding climate change denials. You can listen to the Fresh Air podcast here.

At the close of the Constitutional Convention a woman asked Dr. Franklin, "Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"

"A republic," replied the Doctor, "if you can keep it." 

***

Ride the Drive is back today. oops, it just started....and the Orton Park Festival continues (hey, it just started again, too!). It's one of my favorite local festivals, except it's always signaled the end of Summer. That might be hard to buy today with temps around 90.

***

For the first time since 1990, none of my children are attending a Monona Grove School District school. Parents of adult children will understand when I say that's a melancholy feeling. I moved by youngest child (?)(offspring?) into his (brand new) dorm at UW-Milwaukee yesterday.

Why is it that in some place in my mind he'll always be the chubby 6th-grader instead of the (often) mature and bearded young man that he is today?

***

I have touted the Left Business Observer before and I'm doing so again. The tastefully named Doug Henshaw offers brilliant fact-based insights into the state of the economy and the related behavior of our political leaders.  the LBO gives us some of its stuff for free, but usually delays posting the newer lead articles. He posted this one right away and it's worth a read: Jonesing for a slump: austerity in the face of weakness. He posits that the stimulus package let us  avoid a worldwide depression, but now Austerity has somehow gotten hold of political-economic reins like a Horseman of the Apocalypse.

Having successfully avoided depression through a massive, largely coordinated, stimulus program, the world bourgeoisie now looks ready to reverse it—some because they think it a success, and others because they think it was a failure. This is a very dangerous business.


Abroad, the austerity party is led by Germany, with some neighboring allies, whose approach to the Eurocrisis is to put the depressed periphery through the wringer and cut budgets modestly at home. So far, the German economy has been holding up well, and German capital seems not to fear a hit to exports coming from a deep recession at the fringes of Europe.

At home, orthodox types across the political spectrum are now obsessing about the horrors of mounting U.S. indebtedness. Although the Obama administration isn’t embracing the austerity agenda passionately, they are taking it far too seriously.

His 1994 and 1998 article on purely ideological efforts to gut Social Security by ginning up a phony crisis is still relevant. The bottom line is that Social Security is not going broke. Period. Full stop. The end.

"GDP growth will, since the size of the economy decades hence will determine how much money is available to pay retirees. The bankruptcy scenario is based on an assumption that GDP will grow at a rate seen only in depression decades."

But none of my 20-something children or their friends expect to collect Social Security because they have been successfully sold the myth. The only way politicians will ever vote to take away Social Security (or shrink to an unimportant levels) is if they think it is politically safe to do so. They have laid the ground work.

He also has a blog with newsier posts (cleverly titled LBO News).

***

Finally, in another example of the weird of the disconnection between the state's largest city and it's state capital, unless you read the Milwaukee JS, you are very possibly unaware of the scandal exposed by the paper at the County's Mental health Complex. The series: Part I of and Part II.

Why is Scott Walker seemingly getting a free pass in the scandalous conditions exposed at the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex? Scandalous but no scandal? It seems pretty clear to me that Walker's mode of governance - taking away the resources to govern - is directly responsible for the horrific conditions allowed to go on there for years.

Yesterday, Walker and a dozen board members announced plans for a new building to replace the 91-year-old facility. That's a start, but unless you fund the place to have a sufficient number of properly trained staff, the same horrors will go on just in a nicer looking place.

To his credit Walker took the blame in Friday's paper:

Walker said Friday he is ultimately responsible for operations at the complex.

"The buck stops with me," he said in a meeting with Journal Sentinel reporters and editors.

That may be the first thing he's said that I agree with. Let's hold him to it, shall we?