The Associated Students of Madison Legislative Affairs Committee will hold a town hall meeting Oct. 13 in the Student Activity Center, focusing on the city’s proposed redevelopment ofdowntown’s Mifflin Street and its surrounding areas.
The committee met Tuesday, when they agreed to keep the informative portion of the town hall meeting brief in order to open up the question and answer session to students. The reasoning behind this format, according to LAC Chair Adam Johnson, is so the committee can gauge student opinion and concerns toward the initiative.
“Students don’t have an accurate depiction of what’s going on,” Johnson said. “We’re here to determine how they would like student government to approach the issue.”
Johnson also said the proposed redevelopment is a “citywide initiative” aimed at revamping the look of downtown Madison. He called the upcoming town hall meeting an important event because it will determine the position the LAC will take toward the issue.
“The goal of my committee is seeing where student interest lies. We’re very interested in what the students want to happen legislatively,” Johnson said.
If student opinion is against the redevelopment, it is likely the committee will aim for achieving “conservation status” for the neighborhood, Johnson added.
In addition to an information portion and question and answer session, the LAC is hoping to include the voices of Ald. Bryon Eagon, District 8, and Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, both of whom have expressed interest in working with students.
According to Johnson, Verveer considers this the best time for students to get involved in the initiative because “there are a lot of ideas flowing around and nothing has been set in stone.”
Not an official proposal yet, the redevelopment initiative would affect mainly Mifflin and Bassett streets, in addition to portions of State and Regent streets where many students currently live.
Besides the town hall meeting, the committee also discussed the idea for a joint committee between students and city administration regarding the planning and execution of Halloween festivities and the Mifflin Street Block Party. The goal of the committee, according to Johnson, is to “ensure students are kept in the loop about planning an event important to them.”
Also mentioned was an update on the Lighting Initiative for downtown Madison. Aimed at increasing safety in high-crime areas, the initiative — already in its final stages — would put lights on porches,parking lots and alleys that are not currently lit. Initiated by former alder Eli Judge, $50,000 of the budget has already been allotted toward the lights, according to Eagon.
Eagon added the initiative is a “public-private partnership” and “one of the pieces of the puzzle necessary to improve safety in the downtown campus area.”
“I’m already very encouraged by the interest the Legislative Affairs Committee has shown on city issues,” Eagon said. “Hopefully we can work together not only on lighting, but also on other issues. It’s important for students to recognize that the problems we deal with in our daily lives are dealt with more on the city level than any other. I’m encouraged by ASM’s renewed interest in city affairs.”
Discussion concerning a safety campaign on campus that would expand SAFE services was pushed to LAC’s next meeting due to a lack of interest from members in developing the campaign.
