Good question.

I think the vast majority of the public has no idea who this extra contender for Ald. Konkel’s Dist. 2 City Council Seat is.

If you were to do a search for Hackbarth online, you’d probably find out that he’s a lawyer (although it probably wouldn’t specify that he deals mostly in real estate deals), that he moderated a Young Professionals-hosted debate of the 2007 mayoral candidates and that he briefly represented the Madison Metro Bus Driver who was fired after he dragged a passenger still holding onto the outside of the bus. (which he says was a fluke.)

However, when Hackbarth came in to the editorial board, one of the first things out of his mouth when explaining who he was...was his divorce. And we’re not sure why that is. He made a point of saying that he got married at the age of 23 and was officially divorced by 2008 and moved into the hipathia cooperative after that.

Again, we’re not sure why this was so explicitly made an issue, but it might have to do with the sort of campaign that Adam Walsh is running (which includes a website that has his wife in almost every picture and a platform that encourages permanent family-based settlement in the district to buttress the neighborhood schools.) If it is, no need. But enough with the personal stories. What are his qualifications? -Well, first off, he makes it clear this is his first run for office.

He joined CIVITAS (which he seemed to characterize as some 10-month civics lesson, when it’s really just 10 luncheons, one a month, with civic leaders from the region that results in a certificate and $250 out of your pocket.)

-He’s a member of CNI. He touted this at first until we brought up the subject of alcohol and our disagreement with their draconian policy suggestions. His response?

– First off, he’s not a member who focuses on the alcohol business. He was on the Edgewater redevelopment committee and most of his dealings focused on that.

– When it came to the alcohol policies, he made it clear that he did not agree with the quota suggestions but agreed with the idea of outreach to drunk students and checking in on house parties to sort of self-regulate the neighborhood. When it came to ALDP: he couldn’t give an answer as to whether he agreed or disagreed with the citywide policy that limits the number of liquor licenses in the downtown area. This lack of an opinion is obviously troubling.

As for the other issues, he seemed to be rather invested in downtown development and gave plaudits to those alders currently taking up the take of reworking the zoning codes for the downtown area. However, when I asked him if he had any specific vision for how parts of his district should look in terms of development, he didn’t give an answer, instead saying, “well, that’s what the zoning code is going to figure out!” When I pressed him and cited those in the Tenney-Lampham neighborhood who were weary of seeing more high-rise developments go up, he dodged the question with more vague statements about the diversity of the district.

Edit: He did, actually mention something that he would like to see…in addition to talking about the E. Washington corridor as a red carpet to the capitol and Madison as a whole, and talked about converting some of the neighborhoods into that “block corner” model like “Lincoln Park in Chicago.” If anyone knows exactly what that means, please let me know.

-Safety? He seemed very concerned about safety. However, not necessarily about crimes in the downtown area. He repeatedly mentioned traffic around Johnson St. and the speed of the cars making it dangerous for kids and pedestrians in the area. When I asked about whether he thought the 30 police officers were justified he stated, “well, they’re here now” and moved on to comments about making sure they’re allocated correctly. I didn’t hear any specific proposals on how to make the neighborhood safer other than speed bumps.

For such an unknown candidate, he didn’t seem particularly uninformed or aloof — he seemed to have enough knowledge of the downtown area and the challenges facing it (at least more than his know your candidates appearance seemed to indicate)

But a few key points:

–He still doesn’t have a working website. He says that his webmaster said it was still going up, but that he’s leaving it up to him. I suggested a blog, to which he responded, “I’m not sure that a blog is really my style. I’m just not sure.” He said he preferred knocking on doors to a Website. I didn’t realize it was a choice.

-There is the possibility that he could end up representing developers with deals in the district. He acknowledged this, said he’s been thinking about this and hasn’t really decided how he would reconcile this conflict of interest. The fact that he didn’t immediately say he would recuse himself in any deals in the district and seemed unsure as to what he would do is unnerving.

Bridget Maniaci comes in tomorrow. Hopefully I can have an update for that tomorrow.