Family, friends and city and county officials gathered at Great Hall in Memorial Union last night to welcome newly elected mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who said that although he has not yet officially replaced Sue Bauman as Madison’s mayor, he has worked hard on the transition since the moment he learned of the victory. Cieslewicz’s official inauguration will take place today at noon.

Cieslewicz said he has met with City Council members and department heads since the election to discuss the latest developments on major issues.

“Alders and city staff have been very helpful with the transition process,” Cieslewicz said. “They have been very forthcoming with information.”

Cieslewicz said exiting mayor Sue Bauman was also very helpful.

“Mayor Bauman has been very gracious,” Cieslewicz said. “I give her a lot of credit.”

District 8 Alder-elect Austin King said he is confident that positive changes will come with Cieslewicz’s term as mayor. King said the lack of student representation on city committees is a major issue that Cieslewicz must address.

“Of the 821 mayoral appointments that have been made over the years, only four are held by students,” King said. “Dave has said that he will make it a priority and that he would definitely like to see more student involvement.”

King said he gave Cieslewicz a list of 15 student leaders who he believes would make excellent representatives for city committee positions.

King also said Cieslewicz plans to make inclusionary zoning mandatory, requiring landlords and developers to set aside 15 percent of new developments for affordable housing, one of Cieslewicz’s main campaign priorities.

Cieslewicz said he has already started working toward making mandatory inclusionary zoning a reality.

“I have been having discussions with Brenda Konkel as well as other city officials on how to proceed,” Cieslewicz said. “It needs to have a grassroots effort with a lot of community involvement and organization.”

Cieslewicz said he is also concerned with working on the state budget and his appointments to city committees.

Dane County Board Supervisor Scott McDonell, District 1, said he was pleased with Cieslewicz’s choices for city appointments thus far.

“I like his choices,” McDonell said. “They are new people but are not unfamiliar with the issues.”

Despite statements by City Council members that they are skeptical of Ciesewicz’s future committee appointments, McDonell said he thinks the council is satisfied.

“The council has a strong tradition of deferring to the mayor for committee appointments,” McDonell said. “I don’t think there will be any problem.”

Ald. Paul Van Rooy, District 18, said he could not be sure of anything until Cieslewicz announces his appointments Tuesday but that he hoped Cieslewicz would not make too many changes in currently held positions.

“I am impressed with him thus far,” Van Rooy said. “When we met last week, he was interested in my views on issues and appointments, but it’s hard to say what will happen.”

Van Rooy said he assumes the council will approve Cieslewicz’s appointments.

A two-thirds majority of council-member votes is needed to approve Cieslewicz’s appointments to the Planning Commission. No official City Council approval is needed for appointments to other city committees.