Paul Soglin announced his campaign for mayor, telling Madison’s voters he is “happier as mayor.”
After going back to work at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning to meet with his transition staff and alders after a long night of watching election results Tuesday, Soglin has proven that claim must be true as he eagerly begins the transition to his 15th non-consecutive year as the city’s mayor.
Alders on the City Council have met with Soglin throughout the week to discuss the future of committee appointments to the council. He has asked each member their committee preferences.
“We are meeting and having discussions with each member of the Council rather than just saying ‘send us your committee list,'” Soglin told The Badger Herald. “By having the meetings, we really get a better insight into what their interests are and what the interest of their district is.”
Because of this, Soglin said he plans to focus heavily on the geographic or political appropriateness of a committee appointment.
“It’s not likely that I would appoint two far-east side council members to the Parks Commission,” he said. “I’m not going to appoint all left-leaning members of the Council to the Board of Estimates.”
After winning a race to replace Ald. Bryon Eagon, District 8, as the representative of many University of Wisconsin students on the City Council, Scott Resnick said he plans to ask Soglin for appointments to the city’s Housing and Economic Development Committees.
Resnick said he would plan to use his Housing Committee appointment to push through legislation that would increase security regulations for area property owners.
“I can bridge together both the student interests as well as some of the property managers’,” Resnick said. “By actually being on the Housing Committee, I hope I can bring forth that legislation and actually get through with it.”
Isthmus area Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said he plans to ask Soglin to renew his current committee appointments, which include memberships on the Alcohol License Review Committee, Downtown Coordinating Committee and the Board of Estimates, the city’s main economic policymaking body.
Verveer also said Soglin will need to appoint many non-aldermanic members to committees since April is historically a common month for citizen appointments to change.
“There are a number of non-aldermanic seats on city committees that Paul will have the opportunity to fill pretty quickly,” Verveer said. “I do foresee changes in the way committee members are appointed and, frankly, how they’re valued in the mayor’s office.”
Additionally, civil service appointments to city offices, including the recently-appointed Alcohol Policy Coordinator Mark Woulf, a recent UW graduate, will not change because of contractual agreements with those employees.
“One of the things that had an impact on my decision to run was watching the Council meetings and how agonizing they were in length of time,” Soglin told The Badger Herald. “It’s my desire to provide the Council with the best possible information so that when they deliberate, they can do so efficiently and not feel there’s an absence of critical information.”
Soglin will also consolidate two administrative positions in the mayor’s office to one position, creating a net reduction of one administrative position.
