Mayor Dave Cieslewicz announced Monday he is appointing University of Wisconsin senior Mark Woulf to a voting position on the Alcohol License Review Committee.
Woulf currently serves as the Associated Students of Madison’s student technical adviser to the ALRC. After Ald. Bryon Eagon, District 8, introduced an amendment calling for a permanent student voting position on the committee, the mayor announced he would appoint a student to the newly created additional citizen voting position.
“The mayor thinks Mark Woulf has done a great job on the committee (as a technical advisor),” said mayoral spokesperson Rachel Strauch-Nelson. “He has a good command of the issues (of the ALRC).”
Woulf said he was excited to hear the news of his appointment and said it is a big step forward for student involvement in the city.
“I’m personally happy to continue work on the ALRC. I think it’s important for the position to gain legitimacy,” Woulf said, adding he hopes a student will be in a permanent voting position at some point.
While Woulf is a senior at UW and said he does not know if he will graduate at the end of this academic year or at the end of the fall 2010 semester, he said he plans on serving out the total three-year term on the committee.
Eagon said Woulf’s voice and vote will be a great contribution to the ALRC and the appointment is an “encouraging direction” in the future of alcohol policy.
The next step, he added, is to get Woulf confirmed and get a new student technical adviser appointed to the ALRC.
According to a statement from the mayor’s office, the appointment of Woulf will be introduced at the Dec. 8 City Council meeting and confirmed on Jan. 5, 2010.
Eagon said he does not expect any opposition to the appointment at City Council, but he hopes any potential problems that could arise will be resolved.
ASM will soon make a recommendation for Woulf’s vacant student technical adviser position, which the mayor will appoint at the time of Woulf’s confirmation.