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Mayor highlights Madison’s goals

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by Heather Quitos

Thursday, April 27, 2006

In his third year in mayoral office, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz delivered his annual "state of the city" speech Wednesday, highlighting his goals for Madison's future.

Cieslewicz addressed Downtown Rotary Club discussing issues regarding the city and discussed possible policy approaches he is looking to implement in the future.

"This is … an opportunity for me to be very serious about the policy directions I want us to take over the course of the next year," he said.

The mayor raised 10 areas of concern that he will work to improve over the next year: budgets, the economy, regional outreach, energy efficiency, keeping clean lakes, social activism, maintaining the public school system, continuing city construction and increasing civic engagement.

The biggest challenge the city faces, Cieslewicz said, is growth.

If predictions and trends continue, Dane County could see 150,000 more residents, 75,000 housing units and 100,000 more motor vehicles in the next 25 years.

"Growth will put pressure on our natural resources and our transportation system," Cieslewicz noted. "But if we can shape that growth, we can use it to our advantage to make our community more diverse, more interesting and even more healthy and prosperous."

The growth will also expand in ethnic diversion, as trends expect one-third of Madison residents to be people of color by 2031.

Ald. Larry Palm, District 15, was pleased to hear about developing more construction projects for the city.

"It's nice to talk about some of these things, like the new pool at Central Park and the new Central Library."

Regional communication was another of the many ideas Cieslewicz raised, as he said working with the nearby city of Milwaukee should garner more attention.

Cieslewicz said he will be meeting with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to discuss collaboration efforts, including a push for a high speed rail to connect the cities.

"For too long, the state's capital and the state's financial center have at best ignored each other and at worst been antagonistic," he said. "That era is over, and it's time to work together."

The mayor will push for more development in a commuter rail system within the city and its nearby regions.

When Rotary members raised questions about having electric streetcars in the city, Cieslewicz said such a system will be beneficial to the city, affecting economic development and land use.

Palm said while Cieslewicz expressed good ideas, he will wait to see if those ideas are put into action in the upcoming months.

"I like the notion of working for a common good, but it needs to be more than just a conversation," Palm noted. "[Cieslewicz] has gotten credit for talking about it, but he hasn't taken action yet."

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Anonymous (April 27, 2006 @ 2:52pm):

Mayor Dave's first goal should be to stop sucking and attempt to grow a brain.

Anonymous (April 27, 2006 @ 7:39pm):

Streetcars or "light rail" in the center of your existing streets will provide absolutely no benefit to the users of "mass transit".It will,instead,benefit only those developers who own the property along the route.Whereas,High Speed Commuter Rail,built in existing rail R-O-W's and elevated above both street traffic and existing freight rail traffic,will provide fast,efficient,and most importantly,SAFE transit options for all users of mass transit,while,at the same time,providing the most economic benefit for all,including the above mentioned developers.