April 1 is fast approaching, and with it will come the opportunity for residents of Dane County?s 5th district to choose a new representative for the County Board. Ashok Kumar, the current District 5 representative, will be moving on to other things. The two candidates vying for your vote are Conor O?Hagan and Wyndham Manning.

To call these two anything other than progressive would be a mistake. Both of these candidates emphasize the progressive environmentalist and social issues that appeal to a broad swath of the District 5 electorate. In the course of writing this column, I had the privilege of being able to speak to both of them and ask each of them questions to help clarify their stated policy positions.

Given their progressive stance, it is not surprising that on many issues both Mr. O?Hagan and Mr. Manning take the same tack. On environmental issues, both Mr. O?Hagan and Mr. Manning support an increased emphasis on improving the water quality of local lakes. As a fisherman and outdoors enthusiast, I applaud their commitment to work on this issue and reduce farm runoff into the county?s water resources.

Regarding the issue of the homeless in Dane County, both Mr. Manning and Mr. O?Hagan want to provide affordable housing and expand other services available to the homeless. Although both of these are noble goals, the issue of money and the ?not in my backyard? response to shelters will challenge this effort. Also, given the concentration of homeless people within Madison itself, this would require working closely with city aldermen to get any improvements implemented. Few of them have been receptive to establishing new homeless shelters. Plus, there is the issue of whether or not increasing the number of services here in Dane County will simply draw in more of the homeless. As much as any of us want to help, Dane County alone cannot solve the problem of homelessness. Help can be given out, but it must be measured help.

Both candidates support the plan for the Regional Transit Authority. In a nutshell, the RTA would coordinate the efforts to establish a light rail line serving Madison and outlying communities as well as integrate it with existing transportation services to relieve congestion on roads and reduce the environmental toll of car emissions. I personally support the plan, as the light rail system is exactly the sort of infrastructure improvement that the government should be carrying out. However, the plan has been sidelined for the moment pending state legislation on RTAs.

However, there are some differences between the candidates on this issue. In our interview, Mr. O?Hagan said that right now ?it would be fiscally difficult for the county to go ahead on its own? and that it ?will need state approval to go forward.? On the other side of the coin, Mr. Manning believes the 1998 feasibility study and the results in other cities has ?legitimized the movement? to create a light rail line here in Madison. He told me that pending the county winning federal grants to help finance the construction, he would like to see the project go forward. Ideally, I would also like to see this project get moving as soon as possible. Given that high resource prices are here to stay, the sooner that mass transit can get off the ground, the better off our county will be.

Each candidate also has his own personal project he would work to get passed if he was elected. Mr. Manning talked to me about his plan to push a ?public arts initiative that commits funds to community centers for at-risk youth.? Mr. Manning spoke at length about his desire to create a closer sense of community in the county. He sees the arts initiative as a viable community-building endeavor. As I told him at the time, you couldn?t find a better city to do this in. The campus has a vibrant arts community and, lining up help from the students in Madison seems like something that should work fairly well.

Mr. O?Hagan said he would put pressure on the University of Wisconsin to move away from using the existing coal steam plants to supply the heating and cooling needs of campus buildings. One of my main concerns with this position is that nearly every UW building would need to be refitted with new heating and cooling systems to shut the plants down.

To his credit, Mr. O?Hagan recognized that this would not be a quick process. He said he understood this could be a ?five- or 10-year plan? but we need to ?focus on reducing reliance? on the steam plants. While I understand the concern that Mr. O?Hagan and numerous other groups have for the use of coal to heat and cool university buildings, the decision to replace that plant will likely rely on the ability of the university to secure some sort of additional funding. Given the dire budgets UW has been faced with over the past several years, I see little chance of this money becoming available.

Finally, I asked each candidate what they thought of the County Board becoming involved in national and international issues beyond Dane County. I was referring to the old debate on impeaching President Bush and Ashok Kumar?s politically motivated sister-county agreement with Andres Eloy Blanco in Venezuela. When I talked to Mr. O?Hagan, he stated that his job was to ?work to improve things here? and focus on the county level. Mr. Manning told me ?different people will prioritize these issues differently? and that the ?shifting of mindsets is just as important? as other government work.

Here at the local level, Mr. Manning said, ?We can sort of express things that can?t be translated at the national level.? While I applaud Mr. Manning?s honest answer to this question, particularly when he may have known my views on the subject from an earlier column, I must disagree with his stance here and back Mr. O?Hagan?s position.

So who is my favorite? Both of these candidates have positions with which I agree and disagree. However, based on the conversation I had with Mr. Manning, if I had to vote today, I would vote for him. He was willing to go the extra mile and explain to me in-depth why he was working on a specific platform. Overall, he was more informed on what was going on than Mr. O?Hagan. That said, either candidate?s views mesh well enough with mine that whatever the outcome, I feel District 5 will have a worthy representative.

Andrew Wagner ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in computer science and political science.