Bridget Maniaci is, for the first time in four years, a lame duck. 

When Maniaci was first elected in 2009, University of Wisconsin alumna was 25 years old, making her the second-youngest member on the council. Maniaci said her passion for local government stemmed from being a photographer for the Capital Times and an intern for former Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. As her time on the City Council comes to an end, Ald. Bridget Maniaci, District 2, reflected on both the challenges and rewards of serving her two terms.

“I liked that you could see things change,” Maniaci said. “You could make things better. I liked that direct access to constituents that gets delayed and is harder to accomplish at a state or federal level.”

While Maniaci felt her four years as alder were both enjoyable and rewarding, she said it was challenging to overcome the difficulties that come with being so young. She said she experienced both ageism and sexism while serving on the City Council.

Maniaci said in every profession, it takes time to transition from being a college student to a professional, as well as overcome the learning curve and be taken seriously by coworkers and the public.

Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, is currently the youngest member on the City Council and praised Maniaci for the way she handled the difficulties of being a young professional.

“It’s always difficult for people to take you seriously,” Resnick said. “It’s something I’ve faced before, something I know she’s faced and she’s held up to her critics. She showed that she was someone that you had to take seriously regardless of her age, that she had an equal vote just like every other council member.”

Maniaci said one of the most defining moments in her career and what helped her get past the learning curve was her role in the contentious Edgewater Hotel redevelopment project.

Real estate organization Hammes Co. proposed a redevelopment of the hotel that was struck down by the City Council in 2009, but ultimately gained the council’s support in early 2010. The hotel is currently under construction. 

Maniaci remained a strong supporter of the redevelopment. She said less than two weeks after she came into office, she attended a meeting for the hotel with neighborhood stakeholders who were against the project. She described it as “a couple decibels short of a shouting match.”

“To walk into a situation like that and to be thrown into it and asked to figure it out…I think at the end of the process, there had been very much of an evolution,” Maniaci said.

Madison Lawyer Fred Mohs also owned property in the area and was among those in opposition of the project. He opposed the project because the proposed redevelopment did not comply with several ordinances from the Madison Landmark’s Commission, violated height restrictions for the area and would turn the hotel into a residential property when it was zoned to be commercial.

Mohs said while Maniaci pushed for development, he was an advocate for historic preservation and lakefront health of the area. He added Maniaci wanted to provide tax base for the benefit of the city.

“Bridget’s simplistic approach to adding the tax base and wanting density at the expense of all of the other benefits of zoning and land use was a problem,” Mohs said.

Maniaci said she worked very diligently on this project, which ended up gaining the supermajority of votes from the council. She said she now has a good-natured attitude toward the issue and realizes her position on the council is bound to draw criticism regardless of the decisions she made.

Her controversial tenure extended beyond the political viability of Maniaci’s legislative proposals. Earlier this week, political rival Ledell Zellers won the election to replace Maniaci. Zellers defeated the candidate Maniaci endorsed, Bryan Post. 

Resnick said her district is one of the hardest to represent because it is comprised of Langdon Street and student dwellings on one side, with multi-million dollar mansions on the other.

“It takes a lot to be a District 2 alder, and you’ll never be able to keep everybody happy,” Resnick said. “It’s going to be quintessential [for the next alder] to listen to the students and seek their input on city processes.”

Maniaci said it is important to her to have diverse homeowners in the area, and said she is glad many students choose to stay in the city after graduating. She said she sees a lot of potential for Madison and a proactive spirit from the “millennials” that want to get involved and provoke change.

She said she now plans to attend graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University for a masters of science in public policy and public management. She added it is probable she will take interest in an elected position in the future.

“In four years, in many ways, I think I’ve changed the face of the city in a really powerful way,” Maniaci said. “It’s a good spot to step back and look at what I want to do moving forward.”