The Badger Herald: Opinion: The verdict is in

Opinion

The verdict is in

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Also by Badger Herald Editorial Board:

Inching toward legalization (November 23, 2009)
Dissent: An impaired decision (November 23, 2009)
Nike contracts: Nix or fix (November 20, 2009)
Another justified denial (November 19, 2009)
Woulf at the door (November 18, 2009)

By Badger Herald Editorial Board
Monday, September 24, 2007 12:00 a.m.

10 Vote 0 Votes

Last Tuesday, the Madison City Council passed the Alcohol Density Plan, which will effectively prohibit any new bars or liquor stores from opening in the downtown area.

Seeing as we have consistently opposed this counterproductive, anti-business ordinance from the start, we were disappointed. It is worth noting, however, that something good did come out of the hours of debate at last Tuesday's City-County Building. Six of Madison's 20 alders voted against the ordinance, and not surprisingly, one of them was Ald. Eli Judge, District 8.

Now is as good a time as any to announce how pleased we are with Mr. Judge's first few months on the City Council. As you may recall, our endorsement of Mr. Judge prior to last spring's election was hesitant, even tempered by a question mark in the headline, "Judge for District 8?" We saw little difference between Mr. Judge and his opponent, both of whom seemed problematic candidates for any number of reasons.

But since then, Mr. Judge has inspired us with his zealous opposition to this ordinance, which 13 of his peers elected to support, including fellow campus-area alderman Mike Verveer, District 4. Mr. Judge showed up last Tuesday willing and able to fight to the end against an ordinance he, and the vast majority of his constituents, correctly identified as remarkably poor public policy. He surely deserves not even a fraction of the blame for the City Council's poor choice.

The current contrast between Messrs. Judge and Verveer is worth noting. Quite frankly, Mr. Judge has been the far more impressive alderman over the past few months. In addition to their differences on the Alcohol Density Plan, Mr. Judge and Mr. Verveer also parted ways on two other City Council issues that drew our attention — the so-called "anti-oath" in opposition to the state Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and the wholly inappropriate vote to support the impeachment of President Bush.

While Mr. Verveer threw his support behind both asinine measures, Mr. Judge abstained on each count. Although he was extremely vocal in his opposition to last November's amendment, he acted responsibly in taking the oath to uphold the state Constitution without throwing a choreographed temper tantrum immediately thereafter. Likewise, on the impeachment vote, we have little doubt Mr. Judge won't be voting Republican in 2008, but again he chose not to stoop down to the Progressive Dane Bush-bashing bonanza and demand impeachment.

Our hesitance in endorsing Mr. Judge last spring has been alleviated by his sagacious performance in office thus far. After just a few months in office, Mr. Judge has made a strong name for himself not just in District 8, but across the city of Madison. We have little reservation in saying Mr. Judge, a University of Wisconsin junior, is one of the most promising student leaders this campus has to offer.

10 Comments | Leave a comment

Anonymous | September 24, 2007 2:48 AM | Reply
IP hash: fa4f1bf7

I think even the PD/Woods trolls who will no doubt attack this article can agree with its merits: Judge has stuck to his constituency remarkably well. Good work Judge.

Anonymous | September 24, 2007 10:19 AM | Reply
IP hash: e8afc5f1

Judge did well on the density plan, agreed. I have no idea what Verveer was thinking.

But to say that Judge is “with his constituency” by lining up with the Council Republicans in not supporting the impeachment resolution is just wrong. Democrats are never going to forgive him for stabbing them in the back on their #1 issue. I agree it’s stupid that impeachment is their #1 issue, but it is. And his choice to undermine protest against the bigoted ban won him a lot of positive press, but did it win him any allies?

I’ll say the verdict is still out. When is he going to deliver something? So far, all the credit the BH gives him is for two abstentions and a loss!

Anonymous | September 24, 2007 10:56 AM | Reply
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Eli Judge is my hero!!

Anonymous | September 24, 2007 11:07 AM | Reply
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did you really use ‘Messrs’ in this?

Anonymous | September 24, 2007 12:47 PM | Reply
IP hash: 8a997b18

Mr. Judge has done a wonderful job to this point in showing that he can persuade students to follow him (and, well, elect him), and he has shown his ability to speak eloquently on his stances on issues.

But I wouldn’t say the verdict is in. Not until Mr. Judge learns to persuade his peers on the council to agree with him. That’s what a good alderperson does - uses political capital to win the votes of the other alders.

Until he learns to capably win the support of his peers, I’d say the verdict isn’t quite in on Mr. Judge. (Though, I also have full faith that he will one day be able to reign in the other alders - all in due time, good friends.)

Anonymous | September 24, 2007 1:08 PM | Reply
IP hash: fa4f1bf7

10:19,

You’re a Progressive Dane hack. Check out this post from the College Democrats blog:

“Today in the Badger Herald the editorial board expressed their concern about the Madison City Council attempting to pass a resolution to impeach President Bush. I have to say that I agree….. I would like to offer my support to the 8 members who abstained from voting”

Your logic, although passionate, lacks merit.

Anonymous | September 24, 2007 2:32 PM | Reply
IP hash: bc15049f

When did impeachment become Democrats’ number one issue? I call bullshit.

Anonymous | September 24, 2007 2:44 PM | Reply
IP hash: 35a6a1f9

Actually, I was really surprised to see a lack of the textbook ordinance in this article or in the comments. Sure, Austin started it, but Eli was key in the reforms which enabled it to pass despite heavy objection from traditional Madison powers. Impressive.