First, let me admit that Madison is actually pursuing the Edgewater Hotel and new central library projects in a way that isn’t raising taxes. Basically, they are using a financing technique called tax incremental financing which basically is a complex financial system involving betting on interest, and federal grants and other complex things that I can’t clearly explain, but the fact that tax payers are not footing the bill must be noted. The fact that the city government in Madison found some quirky way to finance these two projects is beyond the point.

The point is that Madison is in a deep recession. The city will be two to four million dollars in debt. Especially hard hit by the housing crisis, there is no telling when the economy will be virille again. With unemployment as a laging indicator of economic turn-around, a seemingly endless recession, necessary property tax increases, and hiring freezes causing many offices to strain to complete the tasks required of them, when the government can land money to improve the city of Madison, we need to be just as frugal as we would if we were using tax dollars.

It is no secret that Madison’s library is out dated. With the UW library system up the street as well as the revitalization of the South-Central branch, located in one of Madison’s poorest neighborhoods, the central library is a joke.

What is not funny to me, is the beautiful outer facade of the central library beyond which lies sparse collections, outdated computers, and astere rooms that make few people feel welcome unless you count Madison’s homeless population during the bone chilling days of Wisconsin winter. Though far from final, people have talked about placing a community garden on the roof. If it is privately funded, I say a roof garden is a great idea, but I don’t think that we should waste the opportunity to create a usable central library by once again wasting public money on pretty facades.

Let’s be conservative with public money. There will be little of it to fix Madison’s many problems. With a need for a second belt line, pushes for more hybrid busses, and a need to bring our library system up to a reasonable standard to suit the intelligent population of Madison, lets hve the foresight to say no to roof gardens and other frivolous projects. We have found a loop hole to fix many problems that are long overdue to be remedied, so let’s not let liberal pet projects and speical interests taint our efforts to make positive changes in Madison!!