The nine rookie alders elected in the April 3 election began orientation Monday at City Hall, where they will continue their education on the ins and outs of city government.
Almost half of the incoming City Council members are first-time alders, but veteran city officials said they do not foresee a problem working with these newcomers.
"Quite a few of the incoming council members are quite experienced in city government," said George Twigg, communications director for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz.
Twigg cited incoming alders Marsha Rummel, District 6, and Joe Clausius, District 17, both of whom have worked on city committees as citizen members.
"They bring a lot of experience to the table — on the whole, it's a group that should be able to hit the ground running on a lot of issues," Twigg said.
Incoming alder and University of Wisconsin sophomore Eli Judge, who defeated UW senior Lauren Woods to win the vacant District 8 seat, attended the orientation Monday.
Judge said he is not worried about being the youngest member of the council and believes the largely freshman group will be effective.
"I'm kind of excited," Judge said. "I'm more than willing to show them that the UW is capable of fighting anywhere."
As part of the orientation, outgoing City Council President Austin King, District 8, gave the new alders a tour of the City Hall building. He said it is too early to tell if this largely new council will be a good development for Madison, but he predicted fresh faces will bring some enthusiasm to the council.
"It's certainly the largest rookie class we had since the council went from 22 seats to 20 seats back in 1982, and it's certainly different," King said. "I'd argue it's an opportunity for some fresh blood and some fresh ideas."
King mentioned a new council might be able to pass new important ordinances, such as his proposed ordinance to require landlords to use energy-efficient bulbs in rental properties.
"Many of [the outgoing alders] were just timid, and there's this deep-seated sense of fear that change is scary, and I'm hoping that some fresh faces will bring a little courage to the council," King said.
Freshman council members will also attend a meeting at the mayor's office next week as part of their orientation. Twigg said the mayor hopes he can continue his positive relationship with this new council.
"There's quite a diversity of new alders from the left and the right and the center of the political spectrum, but the mayor has always tried to work across ideological lines," Twigg said.
This term's City Council members will be sworn in next Tuesday afternoon and will serve at their first official council meeting that evening. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, who has served on the council since 1995, will take the new alders through each item on the meeting agenda to help them learn procedures.
"I think it's quite obvious that there will be a learning curve for this record number of new alders — that goes without saying," Verveer said. "Certainly, those are the types of things that one will gain with experience."
