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Mayoral candidates debate trolley referendum

Madison voters may get to weigh in soon on a streetcar proposal if the City Council approves plans Tuesday to include an advisory trolley referendum on April ballots.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz has formed a committee to study the costs and effects of a citywide electric streetcar system, which he hopes would increase economic development while providing a more environmentally healthy alternative to traditional modes of transportation.

However, the Streetcar Study Committee is not expected to complete the study until sometime this summer.

"The mayor supports a referendum, but only when there is an actual proposal to vote on," said George Twigg, communications director for Cieslewicz. "This is a concept that is being studied at this point, and having a referendum at this point is really premature."

The mayor announced last week that he would require a binding referendum for the streetcars proposal. The announcement came after Cieslewicz took criticism for certain aspects of the plan, including its projected cost.

"We can't afford the $200-300 million it will cost — it will bankrupt the city," Peter Muñoz said, who is running against Cieslewicz in April's mayoral race.

Muñoz said he has been calling for the streetcars proposal to be included on the April ballot as a referendum.

"This is something that the voters have to decide on because they are expected to foot the bill for this frivolous issue of the mayor's," Muñoz said.

But Twigg said the mayor would prefer to wait until after the Streetcar Study Committee has made its recommendation and been reviewed by other transit committees, so Madison voters would know more exact cost estimates and route information.

"I respond to that by assuming that his Streetcars Committee is going to propose that we install streetcars," Muñoz said. "I think that's a pretty safe assumption."

The proposal has also received criticism from Ray Allen, owner of the Madison Times, who is also facing Cieslewicz in the mayoral race. According to Semmi Pasha, spokesperson for Allen, the candidate feels streetcars are not a solution to Madison's transportation problems and added the referendum is unnecessary.

"There is already going to be a referendum on streetcars, and it's called the mayoral election," Pasha said. "We don't want to spend another dime on streetcars — the city has more important things to worry about."

Pasha also expressed concern that the Streetcar Committee is being funded with $300,000 of city money, as opposed to federal money, which the original plan called for. The City Council voted in 2005 to allow the study to use city money.

"There's a lot of things that the money would be better spent on," Pasha said, adding the mayor's Downtown Safety Initiative is using only $100,000 to improve safety, or one-third of what is being spent on the streetcar study.

Two-thirds of the 20 alders on Madison's City Council will have to approve the referendum resolution Tuesday for it to be placed on ballots.

Cieslewicz will be facing Muñoz, Allen and Will Sandstrom in the mayoral primary Feb. 20.