Opinion: Editorial

Vote today

Today is Election Day. This board should not have to implore students to vote at their local precincts. But as we’ve lamented before, turnout for local elections is notoriously low.

Three high-profile City Council elections are being held, along with even higher-profile races. Among these City Council races, this board has endorsed Bridget Maniaci for District 2, Hamilton Arendsen for District 5 and Bryon Eagon for District 8. We have also endorsed Kathleen Falk for Dane County executive and Shirley Abrahamson for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court.

Each contested district has its own needs. District 2, with its plethora of locally owned small businesses, has been particularly affected by this economic recession. The incumbent alder, Brenda Konkel, has not shown economic leadership. Her governance has consisted mostly of petty, incoherent spats with Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and attempts to push through inappropriate legislation at even more inappropriate times. Maniaci, in contrast, offers a more diplomatic approach with grassroots plans for revitalizing her district’s small businesses. Maniaci has also been a vigorous opponent of the Alcohol License Density Plan, which puts limits on liquor licenses in the downtown area, effectively shuttling underage drinkers into dangerous house parties. And she has shown interest in extending outgoing District 8 Ald. Eli Judge’s Downtown Lighting Initiative into District 2, improving student safety.

Two worthy candidates are running for District 5: Shiva Bidar-Sielaff and Arendsen. Both would make fine alders, but Arendsen has outlined a more specific and economically shrewd plan for his district: Arendsen recognizes the nuances of business development in Madison, and is less likely to be reactionary or unilateral about any specific development plan. Most importantly for us, Arendsen takes a much firmer stance against the ALDP and has been clearer in his intentions to represent students within his district.

And then there’s District 8, the coveted “student district” currently represented by Judge. Here the choice is crystal-clear. Mark Woulf’s candidacy has been severely under-informed. Woulf means well but has an imprecise understanding of what his responsibilities as a council member would be — evidenced by his insistence that alders have the power to stop bar raids on campus and shut down the Charter Street coal plant. These objections notwithstanding, we have seen too much tragedy and trauma on this campus to support any candidate without a clearly delineated and mature plan for campus safety; Woulf has been too reticent about this all-important issue. In contrast, Eagon might be the most thoughtful candidate running in any Dane County race this year. Eagon knows that to limit bar raids, the City Council must have meaningful and mutually respectful dialogue with police personnel. He knows that the Charter Street coal plant cannot be arbitrarily closed by the city without trampling on a panoply of constitutional rights. And he knows that a comprehensive and holistic effort is required to stop the increase of violent crime at the University of Wisconsin.

The voters’ choice for Dane County executive should be equally clear, but for different reasons. Let us be succinct: Nancy Mistele should under no circumstances be elected to this office. She is unqualified for much less important positions, and her campaign has been a saturnalia of false accusations and tasteless exploitation of Brittany Zimmermann’s death. It is impossible to understate the vast betrayal of campaign norms which Mistele has represented. Falk is not a perfect candidate — Falk’s leadership after the Zimmermann murder and response to community concerns about the 911 Center has been uncomfortably unprofessional for such an entrenched incumbent. But compared to the moral outrage of the Mistele candidacy, Falk is an ideal.

The full text of our candidate endorsements, as well as additional Editorial Board opinion and news coverage of every race, can be found at www.badgerherald.com. To identify your district and locate your polling place, reference either today’s News section

or the http://www.cityofmadison.com/. Local elections are often forgotten amidst the sexier issue fronts of state and national politics. We hope UW students will not sit today’s election out.