The two candidates for Dane County District 5 supervisor — Conor O’Hagan and Wyndham Manning — have now had ample time for maturation. Vying to fill the seat of outgoing Supervisor Ashok Kumar, they have spent the last four months of campaigning sharpening their respective messages and learning a fair number of lessons.
Unfortunately, though lessons have been learned, “sharp” is not the correct word to use here. In fact, both campaigns have failed to posit sensible policy positions and demonstrate their preparation for the role of District 5 supervisor, which represents the majority of the campus area. Hence, we find it impossible to endorse either candidate in an election — even one on April Fools’ Day.
Freshman Conor O’Hagan’s enthusiasm and passion for this role is certainly admirable. Yet that ambition has been used as a diving board from which to plunge headlong into an abyss of naivet?.
First off, Mr. O’Hagan’s ability to make good on his promises to constituents is suspect. The seemingly monumental investment Mr. O’Hagan has committed to — daily office hours, e-mail responses within 48 hours and the Clintonian statement that he’ll answer his phone at 4 a.m. for constituents — was challenged when we asked him why it took him 10 days to respond to our e-mail request for an interview. His response that “spring break is for break” might fly with professors, but his position on the county board would demand a higher level of dedication.
However, his organizational abilities seem almost radiant compared to his policy points. When initially criticized for his proposal to expand SAFERide with county funds, he readily admitted that Wisconsin law nullifies his plan. He instead substituted a proposal to expand a state carpool program — one that takes daytime workers to and from work by van — to second- and third-shift workers. When asked how this would be more feasible than expanding bus routes and infrastructure, he said the carpool plan was more cost-effective because buses are more costly to fuel than vans. When asked what the price tag would be for this venture, he said it would be similar to the existing program, although he didn’t know how much that program costs either.
Above all else, Mr. O’Hagan’s plan for economic development may be the most insular, incompetent and insane proposal for Dane County in recent history. Mr. O’Hagan said that he would encourage economic development in Dane County by zoning outlying areas of the county in a way that would greatly inhibit economic expansion and urban sprawl. This, combined with lax zoning regulations for downtown Madison, would supposedly encourage businesses to come to the isthmus and build skyward. Furthermore, he said the downtown area needs to attract more big-box retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart to give students easier access to goods. At the same time, he would encourage smaller businesses — in the same area — to thrive through tax incentives and similar zoning proposals.
The problems are so numerous, they’re almost enough to short-circuit our brains. Not only would his policy halt development in the rest of Dane County, but it assumes business can be squeezed into the isthmus by blocking other alternatives. It assumes large retailers can, and would want to, proliferate in an area of high density. It assumes the needs of District 5 take precedent over the larger needs of Dane County. It assumes we could somehow fit everything on an extremely thin strip of land that will also potentially include a new rail line.
Mr. O’Hagan assumes many things that have no basis in reality. Perhaps there is a universe where Mr. O’Hagan is fit for candidacy, but it is not this one.
Senior Wyndham Manning, on the other hand, isn’t bustling with the passion of Mr. O’Hagan, but seems equally sincere in his desire to change Dane County for the better. While his demeanor with our editorial board was not exactly befitting a candidate for public office — he had no problem backing up his arguments with the occasional profanity — his two main policy positions seem to be able to stand on their own feet.
His suggestion for cleaning the lakes by purchasing manure digesters — devices which would convert the chemicals and pathogens in manure to energy — actually seems like a well-reasoned, holistic solution to yearly, putrid algae blooms and pathogens that make summers on Lake Mendota and the Wisconsin Union Terrace unbearable at times. Our only concern is that given current budget woes throughout Wisconsin and dwindling federal funds, the purchase of these $1.5 million machines may be impossible at this time — even if the devices could pay for themselves in six years, as Mr. Manning claims.
Secondly, while Mr. Manning’s arts advocacy program initially sounded like a fluff proposal, his elaboration of the plan — an arts program for youth offenders aimed at reducing recidivism rates — could actually provide some definite rehabilitative effects if the results he cited from similar programs across the nation prove true for Dane County. And to boot, he had a price tag: $10,000 to 15,000. For such a minimal fee, an experiment such as this might be worthwhile and have an impact, albeit small, on the county’s criminal justice system.
However, Mr. Manning’s position on certain policies highly disturbed us and threw his prioritization into doubt. When asked about the Dane County Board’s resolution to recommend the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, he said he would have dignified the effort by voting on it. While he added the caveat that he would not support such a proposal if it interfered in more pressing matters, his willingness to entertain the notion doesn’t speak well to his prioritization of local issues.
Even more disturbing was his assertion that Mr. Kumar was right in “taking it to” Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney for his practice of reporting illegal immigrants who have been arrested for criminal activity to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
While we vehemently disagree with Mr. Manning and Mr. Kumar’s accusation that Mr. Mahoney has done anything wrong by following the law, we are most perturbed by Mr. Manning’s unacceptable and bizarre justification for his opposition: Deportation of these individuals, he claims, would reduce diversity in the community.
Mr. Manning seems content to place the notion of “diversity” in higher priority than the law. To claim that the racial makeup of Dane County warrants the sacrifice of adequate law enforcement is wholly irresponsible and represents a fatal misplacement of priorities.
Mr. Manning’s poor reasoning in this situation represents a critical blow to his credibility. If he cannot even repeat Mr. Kumar’s justification without reducing the issue to one of oversimplified absurdity, it’s hard to see how he could represent his interests and those of his constituents appropriately.
Any discussion of a “lesser of two evils” would be pointless. Both candidates’ flaws are so glaring that this newspaper cannot endorse either candidate.
