Madison has changed substantially since Paul Soglin was first elected mayor nearly 43 years ago. It is finally time for the city’s leadership to reflect that change.

On Feb. 17, Madisonians will take to the polls to decide which two mayoral candidates will face off later this spring. The three main contenders are former District 2 Ald. Bridget Maniaci, District 8 Ald. Scott Resnick and incumbent Soglin. The other candidates, Richard Brown Sr. and Christopher Daly, are long shots.

As is often the case in Madison elections, this is a strong field of candidates. Soglin has been involved with Madison politics longer than the Maniaci or Resnick have been alive and can claim credit for a great deal of Madison’s success during his terms as mayor. Maniaci, a native of Madison, has practical experience on City Council, along with a Master’s degree in public policy.

However, Resnick is the best choice — both for Madison and for University of Wisconsin students. During his time as city alder, he has proven to be a strong advocate for students. With his eighth district covering much of campus, he has experience representing student interests at the city level.

Most importantly, Resnick has distanced himself from the rest of the field by his ability to bring others together in order to govern more effectively. Both Soglin and Maniaci have engaged in a number of public feuds — occasionally with each other.

The elephant in the room of Soglin’s campaign is the fact that, despite his rhetoric on homelessness, Madison is still lacking a day shelter. While Soglin places the blame for this failure squarely on Dane County, this is an overly simplistic view of the situation. What is clear is that there has been a severe breakdown of communication between the city and county, and Madison needs a mayor who will work to correct that. It is unjust for Madison’s homeless to be out in the cold in part because of local politics. Resnick, who was favored to be the next City Council president before choosing to run for mayor instead, has shown he is capable of the coalition building necessary to repair this relationship.

Resnick’s experience in business, especially in the tech sector, also makes him uniquely equipped to lead Madison into the future. His plans to use technology to combat poverty in Madison — for example, he proposes to provide free or subsidized internet access to low-income neighborhoods — are especially compelling.

 At the end of the day, Madison is in a good place (at least if you’re somewhat wealthy), and Soglin deserves credit for playing a part in Madison’s success. Regardless of who wins the race, Madison will likely continue to flourish for some time. However, the city needs a change of leadership in order to continue thriving well into the 21st century. Therefore, we endorse Scott Resnick for mayor.