On Tuesday, I'm introducing legislation to ban MPD's usage of tear gas, impact-projectiles (40mm launchers), and pepper spray along with an ordinance severing the city's connection to the Military-Industrial Complex's 1033 Program. Details in thread ⤵️
I have a lot to say about this.
Right now my focus is on de-escalating any potential tension at library mall and ensuring the safety of all those in attendance.
Elected officials should have the ability to communicate with law enforcement, that’s a bare minimum.
To all those that went to Mifflin, that was gross 🤢
Good job at putting Madison at risk. I hope no one gets sick, seriously ill, or dies from the Selfish behavior we saw today.
#COVIDIOTS
I’m not sure what the former mayor means by students being “voluntarily poor”, but let me assure everyone that no student chooses to be poor.
I for one, think it’s good governance to include the 50,000+ student population when considering updating city amenities, such as BRT.
Tonight, the Council is voting on a proposal to prohibit MPD from procuring items through the 1033 Program. In this thread, I’ll share some relevant information and how to give public testimony.
When we talk about equity, this needs to be part of the discussion.
When do the meetings happen? Evenings on a weekday isn’t very accessible.
How is it publicized? If it isn’t on social media a huge demographic is missing out.
Is there a virtual option? Transit-accessible?
Story to come for the
@CapTimes
. Here’s a quick clip from the end of one group’s presentation, when someone yelled out to the group, “How many people here are opposed to this plan?”
THIS. This is the danger of this “deal”.
Vos clearly states that this is just the beginning, because the Board of Regents have ceded their role to the legislature.
The legislature can now (and likely will) hold UW hostage in the future, because the precedent has been set.
"I'm glad they approved the compromise tonight despite reported last-minute lobbying by Gov Evers to scuttle the deal. We finally have turned the corner and gotten real reforms enacted. Republicans know this is just the first step in what will be our continuing efforts to
BREAKING: Minneapolis Public Schools board members have written a resolution terminating the school district's contract with the Minneapolis Police Department.
The University of Minnesota was the first public institution to cut ties with MPD after the killing of George Floyd.
Following the approval of the
@CityofMadison
budget I’m once again left to wonder what our city would look like if we invested just as much into Housing as we do into policing.
In 2000, Madison got about $16.4m in Shared Revenue. Adjusted for inflation, the City should be seeing ~$29m today.
In 2022, Madison got about $12.7m, a 20% increase this year would be about $15.3m.
It's an "historic" increase only because of the 20 year wait for state action.
If you are not there to help—DO NOT go to state street. Your presence only worsens the situation and putting more POC in harms way. This is not allyship.
New redistricting maps just dropped 😩😩😩😍😍😍 HUGE IMPROVEMENT!!!!! All res halls and spring st area remains in D8 with concept 7a and 7b!!
#protectingthestudentvoice
✊🏽✊🏽
Here's a running list of Alders who are sponsoring our amendment to remove the 50k to 40mm launchers:
Alder Kemble (D18)
Alder Foster (D15)
Alder Bidar (D5)
Alder Heck (D2)
Alder Evers (D13)
Alder Martin (D11)
Alder Lemmer (D1)
Keep the emails up! Alders are listening!
TONIGHT: Madison Common Council is voting on a resolution urging UW-Madison to make changes to the 'Smart Restart' Plan. (Legislation Here: )
Registration & more in thread--
When numerous municipalities across the state are debating going to referendum, then you know it’s not a local budgeting issue.
This severe underfunding of local governments by the state legislature is resulting in entirely predictable problems.
‼️Please stay home if you can‼️The violent protests going on right now are not being led by the BIPOC organizers who put on a peaceful protest today. This is not a game.
Tune in to the Council meeting tonight!! I will be introducing a resolution to authorize use of city parks for temporary encampments and prohibit evictions from Reindahl Park and any other park in Madison
We need to end the stigmatization, stop criminalizing homelessness.
Facial Recognition Technology Ban--
This effectively prohibits MPD and city-affiliated departments from using or obtaining facial recognition technology. This will also be introduced on 10/6 and likely voted on at the next Council Meeting.
Just toured the Sifting and Reckoning exhibit at the Chazen. The exhibit is SO GOOD! I’ve never felt so seen and heard by
@UWMadison
. Thank you
@KacieLucchini
for leading this expedition. I encourage everyone affiliated with UW to visit the Chazen and check out this exhibit!!
Reparations: I support them through and through. I look forward to casting my vote for a reparations budget in November. Seeing as our budget season is coming up, I thought I'd make a thread on the status of reparations discussions and be transparent about our timeline.
Was just chatting with my dear friend
@matthewmitnick_
and did y’all know that the Seattle Police Department budget of $370 million is the same amount as the operating budget for the entire City of Madison 🤯
This was a team effort. Students, staff, alumni and state legislators came together to organize one of the most effective efforts in a short time.
Organizing and democracy is a process that works. UW-System must include those it affects when making such important decisions.
Last night I felt hopeless. I felt at a loss for my community, important resources were being negotiated away without our input.
Today the Board of Regents voted to stand with students of color. UW will try this deal again, and it MUST be an inclusive process. Process matters.
I’m thrilled to share that our city and
@UWMadison
students will be working with
@HUDgov
to help address the affordable housing crisis — right here in Madison.
The lived experiences of us students and our perspectives are essential in addressing this ongoing issue.
HUD has selected the City of Madison Community Development Authority in Madison, WI as a partner for the annual Innovation in Affordable Housing Student Design & Planning Competition.
This competition invites graduate students to help advance affordable and sustainable housing.
Why are peaceful protesters being violently attacked by MPD and the national guard. FOR WHAT?? Violence most definitely should not be used to enforce a curfew. This is shameful.
Police keep pushing protesters back & deploying gas but people are injured, unable to see & vomiting because of the gas. They can’t get away & cops are just basically hunting & harming now.
#MadisonWI
--
This ordinance would severe MPD's connection to 1033, which allows them access to discounted military-grade weapons and supplies. Regardless of details, the city must take a stand against militarization by ✂️ ties with the military-industrial complex.
An elected official within Madison's city council was just exposed as a former member of the right wing extremist group the Oath Keepers.
He says he joined mid-2020. Interesting how that aligns with the timeframe of anti-BLM rhetoric pushed by the org. What a coincidence, right?
The City of Madison Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) just voted down a resolution asking for a study to ban tear gas & a separate ordinance that prohibits the use of tear gas, impact-projectiles, and pepper-spray.
For the first time in a very long time, students got a win from the City of Madison Common Council.
Almost 100 students filled out a survey voicing their opinions against this luxury development, and the Common Council voted it down. Students, THIS is the power WE have together.
Tonight
@MadCityCouncil
voted down (6-13) rezoning downtown that would have allowed 232 units of primarily student housing, but would have removed about 75 units of more affordable units. Alders objected to how expensive the units would be.
Proud to be a sponsor of these pieces of legislation and I hope more of my colleagues sign-on. This is only one step towards decriminalizing poverty & homelessness, police abolition, and reparations budgeting. The City has a long way to go.
MPD tried using an unfortunate suicide by cop situation to undermine crowd control legislation.
This phenomenon proves precisely why we need to re-asses MPD. Reactionary violence is clearly institutional instead of a mental health focus with de-escalation.
#8toabolition
The event occurred as Madison City Council weighs whether to ban the use of sponge rounds and other less-lethal weapons, including tear gas and pepper spray, after they were used to disperse crowds after State Street businesses were damaged following…
Badger Barstool needs to be held accountable for promoting unsafe behavior.
Further, Badger Barstool has and continues to be homophobic and racist. It continues to uphold the White-centered toxic drinking culture
@UWMadison
that sidelines marginalized communities.
I am disappointed, but not shocked, to hear that DEI resources are on the table.
The resources relied upon most by students of color are always the last implemented and first to be cut.
Decriminalization of Paraphernalia--
This legislation decriminalizes the possession of drug paraphernalia in the City of Madison. All of these Marijuana-related ordinances will be introduced on 10/6 and voted on at the next Council Meeting.
The City of Madison does not want student representation, redistricting committee seeks to crack student aldermanic district: The City of Madison does not want student representation; redistricting committee seeks to crack student aldermanic...
Seems like to some, any building that some rich old white man once took a sh** in adds to the history of Madison 🙄
White elites need to set aside hyper-preservation so that we can create affordable housing.
I sent out a survey to students regarding the housing crisis. Here are all the results and other documents made public:
Ald. Bennett and I went through every single response. Our hope is for it to educate us for all future discussion on student housing.
I’m not sure anyone knew how this pilot project would go—myself included—but the paint’s barely dry and people seem to be figuring it out.
This is State Street in
#MadisonWI
.
Thank you
@madison_365
for naming me as one of Wisconsin’s Influential Asian American Leaders! I’m proud to be able to uplift my community within our local government systems.
Despite numerous warnings, UW is going ahead with a disaster plan that will inerrably harm Madison. Students and community members alike should familiarize themselves with mutual aid. Sup. Elena Haasl and I have compiled a list of campus resources here-- >
First common council meeting in the books!!!
the vote to move PEOs out of the police department passed!
More on this in the morning, but for now Happy 4/20 💗
Decriminalization of Marijuana--
This piece of legislation lowers bail deposits to the minimum and sets definitions for Marijuana & Cannabis. Effectively repealing the historic 23.20 Marijuana Ordinance in Madison and decriminalizing consumption.
finished the Council meeting just in time to watch the sunrise 😅
-We passed the 619/621 N Lake St proposal to keep
@AlphaChiSigmaUW
Home
-We referred the resolution in Reindahl Park evictions, with the stipulation that NO ACTIONS will be taken against campers until Council votes
--
All three tools of crowd control were misused by MPD during protests in Madison. I admit there are nuances with prohibition, but they should be figured out in the public committee process, not behind closed doors with council members and city staff.
Extended Voting at Memorial Union!!
I didn’t expect to testify in court today after filing this complaint, but that’s exactly what happened.
Students turned away earlier in the day should be able to go back until 9:30pm and vote!
The Chancellor and UW-Admin have spent an inordinate amount of time lobbying Alders instead of meeting with campus reps. Hearing anecdotal evidence from students can and will expose the lies from UW-Admin that has been fed to our public officials.
Shoutout to the trolls (random White people) hitting me up, calling my personal phone with racist messages.
The comment section really shows that removing a rock doesn’t remove the racism that exists
@UWMadison
. Y’all need to get your racist students together, it’s traumatizing
“Now is a moment for all of us BIPOC students to breathe a sigh of relief, to be proud of our endurance, and to begin healing,” said
@d8alder
.
The rest of the story on the removal of Chamberlin Rock Friday morning:
Let me be clear: The University claiming to have core values of diversity and inclusion while compromising on those exact “values” speaks for its self.
You can spin it however you’d like, at the end of the day students of color were on the table, instead of sitting at it.
Anyone want to get a write-in candidate for the District 5 Dane County Board Supervisor position?????
This Hynes dude that’s running unopposed has no campaign, no outreach, no nothing.
We need elected officials that care enough to engage with the community.
Changes such as these may seem small but are what perpetuate and further existing inequity throughout an already exclusionary process.
Young people, people of color — they’re the ones unable to attend neighborhood meetings. This power gives Area Plans a veto against progress.
West-siders sure don't play at NIMBY. They didn't like a proposed 4-story development on Old Sauk Rd, so they got city staff to change language in the comp plan, allowing them to block more density along arterial streets through the (soon to be complete) west area plan.
@Wisco___Nation
Yes! I do agree. It’s a shame that the state legislature outlawed it when the city tried to implement it (I believe in the early 2010s).
I’m frustrated that the article clearly avoids that very obvious fact, that regional transit authorities are illegal in Wisconsin.
‼️Call to Action: Protect Student Voices‼️
The Madison redistricting committee is aiming to crack students and weaken our voice on city council. Check out this link to protect student voices:
Taking this time to shout out the student writers, reporters, photographers and editors at both the
@BadgerHerald
&
@dailycardinal
. It’s finals, but over the past week I’ve met dozens of students dedicating hours to covering the recent news.
You don’t hear it enough - thank you.
Thanks to community-wide efforts, a multi-million dollar fund has been introduced to the ASM Student Council & Reserve Board. More info will be shared in late January. See thread for details on how to register in support!
Press Release ➡️
@Wisco___Nation
From my understanding, the current legislature is not friendly towards an RTA, and that has been the case since 2011, which Fmr Mayor Soglin knows since he was in office when the legislature banned it.
1033 Program--
I initially introduced this with no exceptions--A full ban on 1033 procurement. It's been amended by my colleagues, but I plan on making a motion to return it to its original state at the 10/6 Council Meeting.
Earlier today,
@ElenaHaasl
and I sent a letter to Olivia Woodmansee, Student Rep. on the UW Board of Regents. We made a request of her to include both UW Caste Protections and Student Relief Funding on the next agenda. Students may email her comments at owoodmansee
@uwsa
.edu
It’s time
@CityofMadison
stops shuffling our neighbors experiencing houselessness around from park to park without ever fully addressing the crisis at hand.
Last night I felt hopeless. I felt at a loss for my community, important resources were being negotiated away without our input.
Today the Board of Regents voted to stand with students of color. UW will try this deal again, and it MUST be an inclusive process. Process matters.
Quick story on UW Board of Regents rejecting deal w/
@SpeakerVos
.
Vote came after regents made impassioned pleas against limiting diversity, equity and inclusion positions, warning it would only encourage GOP lawmakers to seek further tradeoffs.
Tune in tomorrow, Tuesday, April 20th, for the virtual swearing-in ceremony of Alder-Elect Juliana Bennett! Use the link to watch live. Congratulations
@ayeitsjulianio_
!
--
This account will transfer ownership to Alder Bennett following the oath of office.
.
@ElenaHaasl
and I support dismantling and abolishing our respective police departments in favor of a non-violent public safety department:
Posting specific plans for harm reduction and long-term legislation this week.
Link to my amendment to Resolution
#60658
(Allocating money for a new generator AND 50k for new 40mm launchers) -->
Email your Alder to support the amendment! The police do not need new military toys!!
Redeveloping this area also allows us to address the fact so much of student housing in this area is terrible!
Old amenities (if any), some don’t have AC, cockroaches, mold, allowing ADA accessibility and so much more can all be solved with upzoning this area.
The south side of Regent St. has got to be some of the worst use of space in the entire city. This street is blocks away from some of the of the most valuable parcels in the state. The only thing keeping this stuff here is restrictive zoning, and everyone knows it.
Amending Smoke-Free Areas to Include Cannabis--
This legislation amends current ordinances that prohibit smoking inside certain indoor spaces to include Cannabis.
Expect an update on my Alder blog soon w/ more details and other plans for equity & sustainability in Madison. Contact me at district8
@cityofmadison
.com for any questions/comments/concerns.
Matthew was one of the reasons why I decided to run. You stepped up to the moment to give us, as BIPOC students the platform we desperately needed. You helped give me the courage to run.
I’m honored to call you my co-conspirator, mentor, and friend. Much love ✊🏽💕
I’m sad to have missed the last
@asmstudentgovt
meeting of this session.
I wanted to thank
@matthewmitnick_
for your tremendous work as chair this semester. Matthew is a true leader and ally that has worked tirelessly to amplify our voices, you will be missed 💜
Continue to register -->
I also introduced an amendment last Friday to strike all the language asking for new military toys. Ask your Alder to vote for the amendment!!
Congrats District 8 on our new maps!! We stuck together and got through it!! We protected the student voice 💞
Much love and thanks to everyone that engaged in the process!!
Police 👏🏽Coverup👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Also the city of madison budget allocates $150,000 to the police so that they can learn to shoot apparently at each other. Shame.
JUST IN: The Wisconsin DOJ says the Madison police officer shot on State Street Oct. 10 was hit by a bullet fired by another officer.
DOJ says the suspect they were trying to arrest, and eventually did, had pointed a gun at the officers.
Just finished Plan Commission. Time to hammer out two 8-page papers 😴
Plan Commission passed:
✅ Lake St Campus Garage and inter-city bus terminal
✅ 550 units of 100% affordable housing in Oscar Meyer neighborhood
✅ TOD Overlay to include more density along BRT
#bereal
Over the next two years, there will be 5300+ beds of student housing coming online, which the Common Council has approved.
Cheaper units are filled while the luxury ones struggle to find tenants. This market shift is slowly giving power back to student renters
As students scramble for housing, officials continue to wrestle with the housing crisis. Madison’s rent increased 14% in 2023 — the largest increase for any US major city.
So why are luxury units struggling to find tenants?
Iain Chang for
@dailycardinal
The GOP is slamming through a ❗️terrifying❗️bill that allows parents to opt students out of sexual orientation & gender identity programming in school. Introduced yesterday, AB 562 is scheduled for a public hearing TOMORROW to purposefully curb dissent. Here’s how to fight it:
Excited to
#FlockToState
today with
@SatyaForMadison
, signaling the official start of the State Street Pedestrian Mall Experiment!
Thank you to the many city staff, local artists and 600+ volunteers for your dedicated hard work. This truly was a community effort!
I’ve pulled this item off the consent agenda and will be making a motion tonight to amend it to the original language.
“The Madison Police Department is prohibited from obtaining any property from the Defense Logistics Agency under the 1033 program.”
No loopholes.
Our student news papers have done a fantastic job over this past year covering various events, I was proud to share this resolution with them.
If you don’t already read the
@dailycardinal
and
@BadgerHerald
, you should definitely check them out!
I've sent a letter to Chancellor Blank and the UW-Madison Leadership Team, outlining the lack of student input and a desire for equity-focused deliberations. See link () for details on how UW can uplift students and empower our grad workers at
@TAA_Madison
CONGRATS to our new
@asmstudentgovt
CHAIR
@adrianlampron
I’m so excited to work together!!! We will do amazing things. Let’s continue to fight for Real Change 💗
The City Council is voting on Tuesday, December 1st on a measure to prohibit the use of Facial Recognition by city departments. Both MPD and the Mayor’s office have expressed opposition to the current proposal.
I’m sad to have missed the last
@asmstudentgovt
meeting of this session.
I wanted to thank
@matthewmitnick_
for your tremendous work as chair this semester. Matthew is a true leader and ally that has worked tirelessly to amplify our voices, you will be missed 💜
Today, I’m leading w/ Alder Bennett, the Mayor and other Alders, a joint statement regarding the racist video that went viral from a UW Student.
We stand in solidarity with students of color in their fight to make Madison an anti-racist society
This display of antisemitism is abhorrent and unacceptable. We must unequivocally condemn this hatred and ensure that our community remains a place of tolerance and respect.