Opinion
Mayor abandons principles for power
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Also by Mike Gendall:
- Bah humbug! Get that goddamn evergreen out of my Capitol! (November 29, 2007)
- Tread lightly, Berquam (September 24, 2007)
- From the desk of the editor (August 31, 2007)
- Welcome to the Herald (August 6, 2007)
- Mayor abandons principles for power (March 28, 2007)
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As mayoral candidate Ray Allen and incumbent Dave Cieslewicz count down the days until Tuesday's election, what was once maybe the most contentious difference between the two candidates is rarely mentioned at all anymore. I'm talking, of course, about trolleys.
Or, as Mr. Cieslewicz is quick to point out, the preferred term is "streetcars." The word "trolleys" is just a little too reminiscent of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," I guess. For those of you who haven't been paying attention, the mayor has grim projections of 100,000 more cars driving in Dane County in the next 20 years, and for a long time — ever since he visited Portland, Ore., from the sound of it — he's been touting streetcars as the holy grail of all our alleged transportation woes. Mr. Cieslewicz is so excited about streetcars, he decided it was worth $300,000 to form a Streetcar Study Committee, charged with determining the project's feasibility. To put that in perspective, Mayor Dave's Downtown Safety Initiative checks in at only $100,000.
Once the election season really heated up, though, all the scrutiny and teasing became just too much for the mayor's re-election campaign. And on Jan. 25 — apparently tired of accusations that he would force streetcars down Madison's collective throat — Mr. Cieslewicz vowed to take the decision out of his own hands. Mr. Cieslewicz suggested, and the City Council is currently debating, a proposal to defer the streetcar proposal to a binding referendum, thereby giving city voters the final authority.
With that suggestion, Mr. Cieslewicz is quite obviously trying to sever any ties with his streetcars proposal; in other words, he's made it explicitly clear that if the streetcars are going down in the court of public opinion, then he's certainly not going down with them. To be sure, it was a desperate attempt by the Cieslewicz campaign to undo the image of a mayor who had already spent far too much time raving about the wonders of streetcars. Although Mr. Allen still tries to play the streetcars card, it really has lost all its bite. That's because he's playing it the wrong way.
This sudden abandonment of the streetcar proposal should give Mr. Cieslewicz's supporters great pause. It is indicative of a man who cares more about getting re-elected and spending another four years in the mayor's office than actually realizing his grand vision for the city — however misguided it may be. Make no mistake about it; this raises serious questions about Mr. Cieslewicz's integrity.
At this point, the streetcars seem like a horrible allocation of city resources — they're estimated to cost $15-$25 million per mile, according to Mr. Allen's campaign website — but I'm not the mayor of Madison, and I haven't read a page of the Streetcar Study Committee's feasibility report. None of us has, because it hasn't even been written yet, precisely why Mr. Cieslewicz shouldn't jump the gun on abandoning his support of the project just to take a few plays out of his challenger's political playbook. The people of Madison — from University of Wisconsin students to senior citizens on the city's outskirts — want a mayor with the courage of his convictions, not someone who will sell out his vision because he's afraid of losing an election.
The fact of the matter is this is not a decision that should be put directly in the hands of city voters. Mr. Cieslewicz says he wants to defer the referendum until after the results of the Streetcar Study Committee are in, so that the people of Madison can make an "informed decision" about whether or not they want streetcars. All the referendum does, though, is guarantee the $300,000 spent on the committee is completely wasted. Even if voters decide they want to splurge on streetcars — which is highly unlikely, given Mr. Cieslewicz's decision to distance himself from the plan in the first place — it isn't going to be an informed decision. It's a classic example of why we are a representative democracy; we elect people we trust to read and analyze any number of proposals and subsequently make a decision on our behalf. Apparently, Mr. Cieslewicz didn't get that memo.
What Mr. Cieslewicz should have been doing — and what he was doing, before he panicked — is to promote a deliberate, methodical approach in preparing for the 100,000 new vehicles he expects (whether or not they're actually coming is anyone's guess). He was already downplaying any preordained commitment to streetcars and said he was open to other alternatives. Frankly, he came off as a lot more reasonable than Mr. Allen, who laughs off streetcars without giving them the intellectual debate they probably deserve.
But what's done is done. The streetcar ship has sailed, and any straight-faced arguments about Mr. Cieslewicz putting the city before his re-election campaign are gone, too. On Tuesday, the city of Madison and those few students who stick around over spring break will go to the polls and elect our next mayor. Whatever you think of streetcars, it shouldn't even factor into your decision anymore, but don't mistake that as points in Mr. Cieslewicz's favor. In addition to other concerns about the incumbent, especially on the parts of students and small-business owners, responsible voters now must wonder whether they can have any trust in Mr. Cieslewicz to act in what he sees as the city's best interest.
Mike Gendall (mgendall@badgerherald.com) is a junior majoring in political science and philosophy.
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This is among the worst-argued pieces I’ve ever read. I’m voting Cieslewicz.
WTF? I agree with above poster. You should consider a different major other than Political Science if you thought your artical was printworthy.
Dear Anonymous posters #1 & #2: What you have done, in the most petty, semi-literate fashion imagineable, is to strike coldly at the very argument advanced so brilliantly in Federalist 10 and propogated, in due course, by Mr. Gendall here. In essence, you have conflated the flaws with democracy and the flaws with your own education (or lack thereof), parading about with slight abuses of the language in a wanting attempt to rhetorically strike at the core of a sound argument with no argument at all.
And so I suppose Mr. Gendall does stand corrected in one regard: So long as morons like you are reading this paper, it isn’t entirely a beautiful day in the neighborhood, much less a beautiful day to be a neighbor.
-Victor Blake Marx
I thought all you lefties loved the streetcars and trolleys?
If the left is against streetcars now, please inform your comrades in Milwaukee like Mayor Barrett so we can stop having that shoved down our throats here.
First two commenters are mayor dave, joel plant and/or liberal drones who assume everything a guy with a pen name as friendly as “Mayor Dave” must always be right.
You can’t call it poorly argued unless you provide a reason, dumbasses.
Are some of these comments… gasp… defending the author? Am I reading this comment thread correctly? I need a new prescription.
9:56am, Ok, here is the reason. Cieslewicz should be applauded, not criticized, for finally recognizing that the streetcar idea has garnered much criticism from Madisonians. We actually DON'T want someone with "courage of his convictions." We want someone who will do what we want, not someone who will defiantly push his own agendas.
So he’s criticized, responds to the criticism, and then he relies on the democratic process to resolve the issue - and that’s wrong? Sure, experts should have a big say in policy. It may very well be impossible to have an intense understanding of a complex issue, such as transportation, on the democratic level.
However, we live in a system that is inherently - and rightfully - tied to the demos, the people. If we are making this campaign about streetcars (as I believe it is - Ray Allen has made it his headline issue, or non-issue), then this campaign itself is a referendum on the issue. In this light, a future referendum relieves the pressure from this relatively small issue and places it on the leadership of the city as a whole. In the end, if the people decide they want a say on an issue, any issue, it is the duty and responsibility of the elected officials to respond to that need, whether or not the “experts” agree with the result. Frankly, it’s not the result - it’s the process. Cieslewicz understands this process and that the people wanted to speak on this issue. That’s not lacking integrity, that’s possessing political common sense. Furthermore, ad hominem attacks are ridiculous from any side. Logic and reason must prevail in debate.
Curious, a lengthy article about a non-issue during an election week. Allen has done nothing but complain about issues that Mayor Dave hasn’t properly dealt with, but he never offers even a glimpse of a solution.
Meanwhile Mayor Dave has a list of issues he has studied, approached, provided funding for, and as a result FIXED. In the case of the trolley, Mayor Dave has identified a future problem, and has proposed an idea to deal with it. And he’s being criticized for that?
While I agree the trolley idea is stupid, there are real issues at stake in this election, and none of them have been addressed by the Allen campaign. Instead he has focused his attention on this non-issue, and this editorial has helped him along. Bravo.
…Adam Lang for Mayor?
VOTE ADAM LANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vote Ray Allen-Adam Lang, get the best of both worlds! - Germain E. Stemme
Ding-Ding $300,00 for a Street-car Ding-Don’t $100,000 for safety initiative. That makes a lot of sense for students
Germain E. Stemme: Who are you?
-Victor Blake Marx
posters #1, #2 and #7 = mayor dave,joel plant and austin king.