Candidates vying for the opportunity to represent Madison’s second district following Tuesday’s general elections criticized each other’s backgrounds and offered up suggestions to improve the campus-area neighborhood during a forum Wednesday evening.
University of Wisconsin graduate student Sam Stevenson and the district’s current Ald. Bridget Maniaci went head to head in discussing the next steps for the heavily debated Edgewater project and what could have been done differently throughout the process.
Stevenson said he agreed developmental progress needed to be made on the historic hotel but said the way in which the decisions for the development were made was not transparent and excluded community involvement – a problem he said he would address if elected to office.
“Most people agreed something needed to be done there – some development was certainly necessary, but the fact that community involvement was discouraged is something I think we’re going to have to spend a lot of time to correct in the future,” Stevenson said. “If I am elected, I can guarantee you I am dedicated to supporting the popular democratic institutions we have in this city because as an alder, you need to act as a conduit to provide information to your constituents.”
Maniaci said she was a “rookie alder” facing one of the largest proposals in the city’s history when the Edgewater project came about and was hit with an array of opinions and testimony, which required her to consider the views of her constituents who lived in the project’s area.
She said constituents needed to analyze the benefits the $37 million public plaza and additional 350 underground parking stalls brought to the Mansion Hill area and the district as a whole.
“I wanted to see a good project that I could say would be an improvement over what we have now,” Maniaci said. “I took cues from my neighbors – I would not be able to sit here and support this project if I did not have the majority of the district residents in that neighborhood in support of it.”
Although Edgewater served as a bone of contention for the district and the city in the past, both candidates said the newly elected alder would have to confront the city’s projected $11 million budget cut.
Maniaci said the District 2 neighborhood is essential to the future of the city’s economy because of transitions anticipated for the East Washington Avenue area and the Don Miller lot. She said the city would face difficult decisions for maintaining its current level of public service because of Madison residents’ requests against tax raises.
In an effort to avoid raising taxes, Stevenson said he would work to prioritize service cuts and preserve the integrity of the local governmental bodies.
“I understand it is going to be very important that the City Council is not pressured to privatize or change the structure of city government in the coming years,” Stevenson said. “I am dedicated to making cuts that we can refer once the economy turns around – We are going to be weathering a storm, but we cannot do anything we’re going to regret once the economy picks up again.”
