After an earlier informal statement, two progressive candidates officially announced their intention to run for City Council in April’s municipal election.

UW students Sam Stevenson and Kyle Szarzynski announced their candidacy for City Council at a Student Progressive Dane meeting Wednesday evening at the Memorial Union.

If elected, Stevenson said he would be responsive to the views of the citizens of the Near East Side’s District 2. He also said he would act as an activist representative.

“This campaign is ultimately not about me, it’s about providing a voice beholden to the community,” said Stevenson, who until recently was a columnist for The Badger Herald.

Stevenson said the diversity of people living in District 2 causes differences in opinion the representative of the district should consider.

He said the district demographic is split between an older, established group of homeowners and people with families, and a younger group of renters closer to campus.

Stevenson said the biggest problem with the district’s current representative on the council, Bridget Maniaci, was her lack of responsiveness to the various opinions of these citizens.

He added this might cause older voters to be wary of another young alder.

“Older people can have confidence that a younger representative will represent their views, as long as their representative listens,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson said in a statement he intends to maintain his activism in the community by working to end discrimination against immigrants and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered community, and ensuring workers’ and tenants’ rights.

The statement also said Stevenson would work to maintain bus stops and oppose an increase in Madison Metro bus fares.

Stevenson said he also wanted to decrease traffic on East Washington and East Johnson Avenues, two major one-way thoroughfares in District 2.

Both Stevenson and Szarzynski said there was a need for law enforcement to be more of a presence in both districts.

Szarzynski, who will run for Ald. Bryon Eagon’s seat, said both he and Stevenson plan to foster relationships between police and those living in the area for an enhanced sense of security.

“Police could have a better relationship with the student body by walking up State Street and Langdon Street rather than just busting house parties,” Szarzynski said.

Szarzynski said District 8 is “in a unique position to reverse the rightward trend in our local politics.”

If elected, Szarzynski said he would be a proactive progressive. He said he has been involved in progressive social movements such as unjust military recruitment on campus and immigrant rights.

“I intend to be entirely consistent with that if elected to this Council,” said Szarsynski, who was also a Herald columnist for several years.

Szarzynski echoed Stevenson’s concerns for his own platform, including such issues as rights for tenants and workers, safety and social justice, as well as increased entertainment opportunities in the downtown area.

These entertainment opportunities would be more accessible to the undergraduate population of students, Szarzynski said.

“Students are disenfranchised from enjoying cultural opportunities,” Szarzynski said.

Szarzynski wants to create establishments, specifically on State Street, that would be more accessible to those 18 and over. Whether such venues would serve alcohol could be further discussed, he added.

Eagon told The Badger Herald he is still working on coming to a
decision on running for reelection, and will announce his intentions
within the next few days.