Following Tuesday’s announcements for proposed significant cuts to municipalities’ state funding, Madison’s two mayoral candidates offered their visions on how the city’s economy would function under tighter education and programming budgets in a public debate Wednesday evening.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and former Mayor Paul Soglin went head-to-head in their third debate following the primary elections that pushed the two candidates into the heart of election season. The debate, hosted by Madison’s young professionals organizationMAGNET,centered around public policy with an emphasis on how the candidates would shape policy toward young professionals.
Soglin opened the debate by highlighting a number of the contributions he implemented in Madison during his previous non-consecutive 14 years as mayor. He said the city is and has been in a “very difficult” period in its history that needs to be addressed through experience.
“We have seen a mantra of no taxes, we have seen a demand for greater services and we are now faced with the dilemma of making the government work,” Soglin said. “There are limitations as to what all of us can do, but I come before you as a candidate for mayor saying I believe working together, we can overcome some of these great challenges.”
Soglin said the mayoral candidates needed to look toward the future and how each candidate can lead the city to get there. He said the campaigns centered around the lack of a skilled workforce necessary to carry on the city in the coming decades.
While the debate turned to fixing and sustaining Madison’s economy, Cieslewicz said the past three years have been the deepest recession year in budgets since the Great Depression but said his administration has successfully managed the challenge.
“We have not slashed services, and we have resisted the temptation to turn to our long-term $25 million savings account while still actually managing to improve services,” Cieslewicz said. “We have managed the city well, even in incredibly difficult times, and we have greater challenges ahead – we are prepared to deal with that.”
Both candidates said the future of Madison’s economy could be adversely affected by Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget cuts to local government and public education.
Soglin said Walker’s budget repair bill, coupled with the planned funding cuts, would drive “the best people” out of government work. He said the budget hurts the city in a number of ways and said the city needs to immediately start saving money.
Cieslewicz also said the budget poses a “serious issue” to all of Madison’s state aid programs, pointing out the cuts to public education and the implications the cuts would cycle back on the city’s economy.
“When Walker said he was going to create 250,000 jobs, I didn’t realize all of them would be at Ian’s Pizza,” Cieslewicz said. “If you care about economic development in the long run, you’re going to invest in education.”
Both candidates also stressed the importance of creating and nurturing an economy that allowed young professionals to stay in Madison after graduation. While the candidates agreed making strong investments was an essential component to attracting college graduates, Cieslewicz said a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship was necessary.
The candidates also criticized each other’s proposed approaches to restructuring the Overture Center. Soglin called Cieslewicz’s original plan “ill-conceived and poorly thought out,” while the mayor said he stands behind his original plan while respecting the City Council’s adjustments. Soglin said he would alter the recently approved structure if elected back into office.
Soglin and Cieslewicz also partook in a prior debate Wednesday morning that focused on the same topics, Soglin said.
