City Of Madison Money Well Spent On Overture Center

Good news came from the Madison Board of Estimates this week when it was reported that $150,000 in additional funding was provided for the Overture Center.  The funding for Overture is now at $1.6 million for the this city budget.  Thankfully funding is not a political piñata as it was last year at this time.  Though there is roughly $150,000 less in city funding this year than last the lack of rancor led by Mayor Paul Soglin has been greeted with smiles all around.

Even though there is mostly harmony among those fashioning a city budget there is angst and disagreements from some in the electorate as to the level of funding that the Overture receives.  As much as I have listened as some try to spin their point of view it never makes any sense.

There is not a city our size in the nation that would not drool heavy for the chance to have a performing arts center of the type we enjoy.  Or the fact that this building was presented to the city as a gift.  There is a not place in the nation that would not love to have our symphony orchestra or our chamber orchestra play in such a building.  Yet there is the chorus from some that the Overture is a place for rich white people.

There is no way to deny the benefits that the arts provides to a community with continuing economic energy.  I would argue even more importantly ihe arts provides to individuals texture about life, awakening of the senses, and adds insight about how we feel and interact with sights and sounds.  In a nutshell the are essential to being a well-rounded person, and a harmonious community.

As such I very much favor the path that was taken this year by the leaders of Madison to make sure funding was allowed without the tension as to why it is necessary.

I am sure many will not agree with the majorities assessment about the need for Overture receiving city funding.  I just happen to feel the arts are something that society should support, as it does make us better as a people

I also reject the idea from some that there are no shows ‘they can afford’.  That is just absurd on the face of it.

I recently had a conversation with someone who tried to make that case to me.  It might have been more persuasive had I not already known that several times a month this person goes to movies and enjoys popcorn and pop while the motion picture plays.  I love film too , and certainly think movies are a great way to spend time.  But if one adds up the amount of money that person spent on films in a month it quickly becomes clear that there was money for a ticket to the Madison symphony.

The same might be said for the person has season tickets for the Badgers, or spends 30 dollars on a Saturday night at the bar for drinks and tips.

It all comes down to priorities.

While everyone can have the fun in the way they desire, I find it unacceptable to have it argued that tickets to Overture events are too costly when spending money on other forms of entertainment is not a problem.

At the end of this budget cycle I hope our leaders will come to appreciate the calm that was the result of  coming together to form an understanding about the need for Overture funding.

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin More Mellow Regarding Military Flights From Truax

In light of the F-16 that crashed this week in Wisconsin, an aircraft that was part of the Air National Guard unit based at Truax Field, comes this reminder of how Madison Mayor Paul Soglin once viewed the military training flights.  The tone of Soglin’s remarks after the crash seemed to be far different from his former perspective.

In the mid-1990s, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin said the flights out of Truax were an unacceptable risk to Madison residents.

On Wednesday he praised the Guard for its safety precautions.

“I know that the Air National Guard is concerned for the safety of civilians and the dedicated men and women who serve our country,” Soglin said in an email to the State Journal. “I am confident that Wisconsin Air National Guard … is taking appropriate steps to ensure everyone’s safety. We are all grateful that the pilot was not seriously injured.”

Why Is Madison Mayor Paul Soglin So Cranky?

Why do I think there is already buyers’ remorse setting in among voters in Madison when it comes to Mayor Paul Soglin? 

We were used to Dave Cieslewicz and his youthful demeanor, his wit, his smile.  “Mayor Dave” exemplified an energy about government service along with an optomisitc  view about who we are as Madisonians.  That applealed to me.  

Meanwhile Paul Soglin comes across as cranky and pissed off.  There seems to me a deep negative reaction within Soglin for anything that Cieslewicz  succeeded at doing in the last eight years.  As a citizen of Madison I hope that is not the tone we have to look forward to whenever Soglin speaks.

With that in mind…

Isthmus’ Bill Lueders has the must read article from Madison’s weekly.

Ah, Mayor for Life Soglin, Madison’s sourpuss-in-chief. Here’s a guy who seemingly shifts between two phases of existence: being unhappy about not being mayor, and being unhappy about being mayor. See if you can spot the common theme.

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin Needs A Time Out

As I  noted yesterday Madison Mayor Paul Soglin is needlessly creating divisions with the new City Council.  The issue that I commented on yesterday regarding the Overture Center is also the one that was featured on the editorial page of today’s Wisconsin State Journal.

I stated yesterday…

There were many leaders of this city who painstakingly worked to fashion an Overture agreement that most think is viable and smart.  To come in at this time and want to tear apart a finalized agreement is not good news for Overture.  In addition, the strains that are put on the working relationship between Soglin and the council are needless.

The WSJ wrote today…

His ego-driven prediction this week that the Overture Center will “crash and burn” was irresponsible and insulting to his new City Council colleagues.

Soglin is not a high-profile blogger anymore, sounding off on city matters from the sidelines. He’s back in charge of City Hall for an unprecedented third time. So his words carry significant weight and come with serious consequences.

While it is clear Soglin has an ax to grind about the way Madison’s former leader Dave Cieslewicz ran the show during his eight years as mayor, there is no need for Soglin to undermine the final outcome after a hard-sought resolution was crafted for Overture.

The newspaper summed it nicely.

And we hope his third time as mayor turns out to be more of a charm than his blunt blunder this week otherwise suggests.

We all must hope for that or this is one long bumpy ride.  And needlessly so.

Tensions Building Between Mayor Soglin And Madison City Council

I have been trying to read the tea leaves when it comes to the relationship that is building, or the tensions that are being created, between newly elected Mayor Paul Soglin and members of the Madison City Council.

Some of the unease seems to be making its way to the top of the pile, and now making news. 

The reports that Soglin wants to revamp or perhaps redo the Overture agreement is sending some members of the council who actually worked on the matter last year  into defense mode.  Rightfully so.   There were many leaders of this city who painstakingly worked to fashion an Overture agreement that most think is viable and smart.  To come in at this time and want to tear apart a finalized agreement is not good news for Overture.  In addition, the strains that are put on the working relationship between Soglin and the council are needless.

First, Mayor Soglin told the press that he is powerless to change an agreement ironed out over Overture, one that he predicts will fail, without council backing.

Soglin, in comments published online Monday, predicted a deal between the council and Overture officials late last year for private operations and ownership of the $205 million arts center will fail and said he’s powerless to change that fate without council support.

Second, members of the council weighed into the storm that Soglin seems intent on starting.

Council members on Tuesday criticized Soglin for raising uncertainties that could undermine Overture’s transition to private, nonprofit operations.

“I respect the mayor’s doing his due diligence to look at some of the big issues he’s inherited,” council President Lauren Cnare said. “(But) the council has made a decision. We’ve got to give it a chance.”

Ald. Mark Clear, 19th District, who led a special work group that forged the deal, said, “His statements are extremely disrespectful to the council and the very, very difficult decision the council came to last year. It really causes damage to fundraising efforts at a critical stage. This is not the kind of leadership the city elected.”

Overture officials also disagreed with the mayor.

Now Comes Tough Words From Mayor Soglin And Mike Verveer Over Mifflin Street Block Party

On Saturday I posted  that “I suspect many local politicians will try to feign a shocked look when trying to explain how this never was considered a possible outcome.”

The outcome were the many crimes and incidents of violence including stabbings, sexual assaults, batteries, thefts, police officers hurt, robberies and drug deals in downtown Madison during and after the Mifflin Street Party. 

I also posted Mayor Soglins’s comment made before the party was held concerning the way the Mifflin event was organized this year.  (emphasis below is mine.)

Soglin stated, “Just when we thought there were no new ways of having a block party, we’ve found a new way,” Soglin said. “This is a rather different and much improved effort to celebrate spring.”

Now that the event is over comes the tough words from Soglin, and a leading member of the Madison City Council, Mike Verveer.  Rather as I predicted back on Saturday that hindsight would provide clarity of thought.

Mayor Paul Soglin vowed to end the process of issuing a permit for larger events, known as a picnic beer license, without formal approval from the mayor and City Council. A picnic beer permit now requires only an administrative review by the city clerk’s office.

“In retrospect, the issue of a beer permit was a tragic mistake,” Ald. Mike Verveer, 4th District, said. “I should have realized when we got the advice from the city attorney’s office that there was no way to ban carry-ins, the deal should have been off.”

“The sheer quantity of beer and liquor being carried into the event was obscene,” Verveer said. Allowing open consumption “gave a sense of entitlement, invincibility, to partygoers, like there were no rules,” he said.

Soglin, who on Sunday called for an end to the event, acknowledged Monday that change will take time.

While this type of Monday-morning quarterbacking is not unusual, the taxpayers, voters, and residents of Madison have watched year after year as this annual embarrassing drunk-fest is allowed to continue.  For long-time politicians who well understand Madison and the issues we confront, not to have known in advance that  the lifting of the ban on open alcoholic beverages in the streets would be utter insanity, is a statement in and of itself.   That it just one more embarrassing part to this story.

The events at the Mifflin Street Party nearly claimed the life of a man this weekend after he was stabbed.  That makes the snow event that everyone barked at  Mayor Dave Cieslewicz about a couple of years ago seem rather tame in comparison. 

Major Soglin is now in charge, and this Mifflin Party is a problem on his watch.  An event he now has stated he wants to see come to an end.  I applaud him for that statement, and wish him well in bringing it about.   Many will be watching and making note of his promise.

Madison Needs To End Mifflin Street Party

I love Madison.  I love to talk about the great things this city has to offer, and what we contribute to the rest of Wisconsin.  This is my home, and a place in which I have lots of pride.  That is why it really annoys and frustrates me over what took place this weekend during the Mifflin Street Party.

If this were the first time I was frustrated with this event I might feel different.  But this is a yearly feeling when the reports of the drinking and arrests make the news.  This year the  two stabbings that took place were the last straw.

The drinking party that has been a yearly spectacle for this city, and a continuing embarrassment, must come to an end.  Clearly there is no other reason for the crowd to assemble then to booze it up, create refuse, fill detox centers, needlessly cause city resources to be used, and create bedlam.

The event started in 1969 as a way to protest the Vietnam War, but today the crowds that descend on Mifflin Street could not explain the reason the event started, or what great social reason draws them together now.  If they did try to give words to the reason they attended it would  only come out slurred.

Madison needs to come to grips with the fact the ONLY reason the Mifflin Street Party takes place is so a large and often unruly group can abuse alcohol.  It seems the organizers have no desire to see the event to be anything other than what we witnessed this weekend.  If they did they never would have suggested lifting the ban on open alcoholic beverages in the streets. 

Who could not see the end result of this policy disaster?

I suspect many local politicians will try to feign a shocked look when trying to explain how this never was considered a possible outcome.

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin thought the new ideas for more music and fun was a grand idea for this year’s event.

“Just when we thought there were no new ways of having a block party, we’ve found a new way,” Soglin said. “This is a rather different and much improved effort to celebrate spring.”

I strongly opposed the lifting of the ban on open alcoholic beverages in the streets within the event zone for the party this year.  That’s a big change from past years, when police had been ticketing people who had open containers of alcohol anywhere off private property.

Lets be honest about something here.

Anything that encourages more alcohol consumption at this event should be discouraged.

Why is that so hard for some to understand when it comes to this yearly embarrassment to the city.

Having said that it is time Madison makes a very clear statement about the future of the Mifflin Street Party.

Enough is enough.

The party must be over.

The Mifflin Street Party is something that I strongly suspect most taxpayers are not interested in paying for when it comes to the number of police officers it requires to keep order.  This year the event turned violent with two stabbings, and 160 arrests.  Detox centers had too many cases (at least 20 cases this year), and even a hospital had to be engaged as one stabbing victim required surgery.

Local politicians will try to tinker around the edges and try calming everyone down with tough words.   Some will offer ideas on how to better manage a drunk-fest, which is all the Mifflin Street Party is at the end of the day.

There is no reason that the majority of the residents of this city should be embarrassed, or need to pay for the bad decisions that allowed for this party to take place.  Likewise the residents of Madison should demand that no more permits be granted for this party in the future.

Too often we try to gloss over the hard facts.  After this weekend it will be harder to do that.

This must be the final Mifflin Street Party in Madison. 

Enough is enough.

Madison’s Mifflin Street Party Fills Detox Center

There is no way that anyone can be proud of the news tonight from the booze fest, better known as the Mifflin Street Party, that is taking placing on Madison’s isthmus.  Madison’s newly elected Mayor Paul Soglin should be the last one smiling about this news in light of his remarks about the new approach to the party he termed as an “improved effort”.

Joel DeSpain, Public Information Officer for the Madison Police Department told WISC-TV that the detox center was filling as the result of the party.  That should concern everyone.  Parents, city residents, taxpayers.  Mayor Soglin.

Lets be honest about what is happening today.

This is nothing more than a reason to drink to pure excess.  I understand this is Wisconsin, and somehow that is supposed to make it all more palatable when hearing about. 

But not here at CP.

This is not something we should watch unfold and smile about.  Filling the detox center as a result of young people drinking to excess is more proof that we have a problem in our society with alcohol.

That anyone reading this blog could walk down to the event and ask those attending why the Mifflin Street event started decades ago, and get no accurate response from those chugging away, speaks volumes about is happening today.  The party began as a celebration of activism against the Vietnam War in 1969.

I strongly opposed the lifting of the ban on open alcoholic beverages in the streets within the event zone for the party this year.  That’s a big change from past years, when police had been ticketing people who had open containers of alcohol anywhere off private property. Anything that encourages more alcohol consumption at this event should be discouraged.

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin thought the new ideas for more music and fun was a grand idea for this year’s event.

“Just when we thought there were no new ways of having a block party, we’ve found a new way,” Soglin said. “This is a rather different and much improved effort to celebrate spring.”

“Celebrate spring”!

Really?

Filling the detox center is just not the way I envision celebrating spring!

Call me whatever you wish, but there is a serious problem with alcohol in this state, and what we are witnessing today in Madison is proof of that.

While I applaud Soglin’s efforts to curb poverty in the city I hope he might find an interest in curbing excessive drinking too.