Candidates fighting for the chance to represent constituents in Madison’s downtown campus area presented differing views on how to balance the area’s nightlife and what kind of remedies they would impose to counter the cuts in state funding mandated by Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget at a candidate forum Thursday evening.
Downtown district candidates said the city will face between 8 and $11 million in funding cuts for its upcoming budget, requiring either new taxes and fees or cuts to services.
“This is a philosophical question Madison has never really had to face before,” Ald. Bridget Maniaci, District 2, said. “We’re going to be stretched thin in terms of where we can cut, but I think raising taxes right now would probably be a problem.”
Maniaci’s opponent Sam Stevenson, a University of Wisconsin graduate student, said he is steadfast against changing the way the city operates and the services the city provides.
Stevenson said the city needs to seriously focus on increasing the tax revenue base in the coming years and encourage development in the city to help shift the economy back to a positive direction. He also said if elected he would prioritize the city’s services that protect the most vulnerable population.
District 6 candidate Twink Jan-McMahon said she would also give the most vulnerable portions of the city’s population priority for receiving services and would use that portion of the population to determine what the next steps in resolving the budget deficit would be.
Incumbent District 6 Ald. Marsha Rummel said there would be significant obstacles in fighting the budget and the answer was not a one-size-fits-all solution.
“We’re going to face some very serious challenges – there is no doubt about that, but we need to engage a participatory budgeting process and look seriously at some big questions that I don’t necessary know all the answers to,” Rummel said. “I think we need to have a really serious process and put things on the table so that we can all look and discuss what our options are.”
The candidates all agreed there were issues that needed to be solved with the city’s entertainment options in the downtown aside from bar life.
Stevenson said if the city does not allow for changes with its Alcohol License Density Ordinance plan that limit the amount of alcohol and entertainment licenses put out through the city, students will only have options that are more dangerous than downtown entertainment venues.
Maniaci agreed on the importance of allowing for a balance in nightlife culture but said the city also needs to focus on making nightlife a more positive experience for downtown residents through providing more public transportation at night and creating a safer atmosphere.
UW student and District 8 candidate Kyle Szarzynski said city officials needed to recognize the preexisting culture of social life in the downtown area and work around it rather than trying to work the culture around policy.
“The reality is that people aged 18 to 20 make up a very significant portion of the population of people who live in the downtown area,” Szarzynski said. “The city currently has certain policies which I think are under the delusional impression that city officials are able to get 18 to 20-year-olds not drink alcohol.”
District 8 candidate Scott Resnick was unable to attend the forum.
