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City Platform of Progressive Dane 2008

The platform is also available in PDF format for printing

Revised and Approved by the Progressive Dane Membership, October 2008

As members of Progressive Dane, we dedicate ourselves to these goals and principles:

• Quality Social Services and Public Health
• Sustainable Economic Development
• Responsible Land Use
• Safe, Efficient, Accessible Transportation
• Affordable Housing and Tenant Rights
• Employment Rights of City Employees
• Open and Democratic Government
• Protected Civil Rights and Liberties
• Tax Justice and Local Sovereignty

Quality Social Services and Public Health

We believe it is important to improve and sustain high-quality health and safety-net programs.

• We oppose budget cuts that come at the expense of such programs, and we seek reforms promoting greater community participation in their design and administration.
• We support improving and expanding job training; child care assistance for families and training for teachers; assistance to neighborhood organizations; services and accommodations for people with disabilities; domestic violence prevention; public health, including HIV and AIDS services, prevention and education; services for the homeless; services for tenants; alcohol and drug abuse treatment services; medical and legal services for the poor; consumer protection; libraries; parks; kiosks; and public areas for meetings, assembly and art.
• For the health, safety and comfort of workers and the general public and to give people with respiratory illness fair access, we support ordinances that promote clean indoor air.

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Sustainable Economic Development

City policy should promote economic development that benefits the general public in ways that favor and further the creation of family-supporting jobs; equal opportunity; a rising standard of living; a more equal distribution of wealth and workers’ rights. We support economic development that will allow workers and their families to become self-sustaining members of the Madison community.

• We believe in a minimum wage that acts as a living wage and is indexed to inflation.
• We believe that the City, in granting contracts and economic support for development projects and when purchasing goods and services, should prioritize and favor locally owned firms, unionized firms and firms with a proven track record of recruiting and hiring a diverse workforce.
• We believe that City policy should promote and expand job training and educational opportunities, particularly to benefit those members of our community who are low-income, and members of minority racial and ethnic backgrounds.
• We believe that City policy should prioritize programs of economic and social aid and protection to our community's most vulnerable residents and should protect funding for such programs as part of an economic development agenda.
• We believe that City policy should seek opportunities to make health care benefits available and affordable to small businesses and the self-employed.
• We believe that the City should critically evaluate prospective development projects to fully understand any potential environmental and economic impact.
• We believe that City policy should require businesses that receive economic subsidies, including Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) funds, from the City to pay their employees a living wage, indexed to inflation and provide health insurance benefits.
• We believe TIF should be used to support projects that would not otherwise occur and where there are clear public benefits, economic and otherwise, and include Public Benefit Agreements.
• The location and scope of TIF districts should be driven by priorities set by the City.
• We support a uniform application of minimum financial feasibility criteria for funding TIF Districts.
• We expect and support tangible, measurable economic benefits from developers receiving Tax Incremental Financing and that developers who fail to produce these results should be required to repay the TIF subsidy with interest.
• We believe that city policies should promote and expand affordable and accessible public transportation options to promote economic development along transportation corridors making jobs and commercial activities more accessible without relying on motor vehicles.
• We support initiatives and programs that promote energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy by the City of Madison and its residents; including distributed renewable generation.
• We support cooperation, financial and otherwise, between the city and public school system.
• We believe the city should support initiatives and programs that promote environmentally friendly technology and employment.

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Responsible Land Use

City policy should be used to contain urban sprawl and preserve the environment.

• We support city policy that discourages urban sprawl and encourages community-oriented infill development and redevelopment.
• We support Dane County's green space plan and efforts to coordinate city policy with its goals, as well as aggressive implementation of measures for preserving shoreline and expanding public park land.
• We support strengthening responsible land use requirements for large retail developments.
• We seek to strengthen enforcement of laws regulating industrial, commercial, agricultural and residential pollution, and reinstatement of local powers to reduce pesticide pollution.
• We seek strong city support and adequate staffing for neighborhood planning.
• We support stronger adherence to neighborhood planning and creation of neighborhood conservation districts.
• We advocate the use of only environmentally friendly pesticides by the City of Madison.
• We support sound practices which avoid or reduce problems of groundwater shortages, flooding, lake contamination and algae blooms. We also support programs that improve stormwater management and reduce harmful runoff.
• We support local urban agricultural projects.

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Safe, Efficient, Accessible Transportation

We seek efficient public transportation that is accessible and affordable to all and believe the city should encourage use of alternative forms of transportation including bicycling, walking, car-pooling, and public transit use. Funding priorities for the city should emphasize alternatives to driving alone.

• We support a regionally integrated public transportation system.
• We support comprehensive, efficient, and fully accessible bus service (including nighttime service), holding fares at affordable levels, and assistance for employers to provide incentives for alternatives to driving alone.
• We oppose increases in surcharges for paratransit services, especially door-to-door service.
• We support the creation of a parking stall or impervious surface fee to generate increased revenue for alternatives to driving alone.
• We support the adoption of a complete streets policy. We believe facilities investment and engineering, law enforcement, and public policy should facilitate bicycling and walking.
• We support a reduction of motor vehicle miles traveled in the city.

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Affordable Housing and Tenant Rights

We believe the city should ensure high quality, safe, fair, accessible and affordable housing for all.

• We support the development of additional affordable and accessible housing throughout the city, including the construction of new city housing.
• We support progressive incentives for developers who maintain a substantial proportion of developments as permanently affordable housing.
• We oppose displacing anyone from current traditional housing or transient shelter.
• We support making available long-term housing to people without homes of their own.
• We support flexible zoning policies in order to promote affordable housing alternatives, including co-ownership and cooperative housing arrangements throughout the city.
• We support improved enforcement of tenant rights in accordance with the Madison Ordinances. We support licensing of property owners and management companies renting three or more residential units so that repeat violators of housing regulations lose their licenses to rent residential units.
• We oppose the use of eminent domain procedures against resident owners of private homes or against local owner-occupied businesses unless there is a clear benefit to the neighborhood and a substantial majority of the residents of Madison.
• We support inclusionary zoning policies that both increase the supply of quality affordable housing and ensure that quality affordable housing is available in all parts of the city.
• We support legislative efforts to end discrimination against recipients of rental housing assistance and to ban housing policies that perpetuate discrimination and segregation based on socioeconomic status.
• We support adequate funding and a dedicated funding source for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
• We support adequate shelter space for homeless individuals and families.
• We support access to facilities for life-sustaining activities for homeless individuals and families.

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Employment Rights of City Employees

We support the rights of city employees to join unions and to enjoy protection from discrimination as defined by law.

• We oppose the privatization or contracting out of services provided by city employees.
• We seek better enforcement of provisions against discrimination and sexual harassment in the public workplace.
• We oppose pre-employment drug testing of prospective city employees. We oppose drug testing of current city employees without probable cause.

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Open and Democratic Government

We support open, accountable, and understandable government that fosters meaningful civic engagement by the public as well as election systems that are free from the influence and impact of private money.

• We support full public financing of elections.
• We support the establishment of mandatory filing of campaign finance reports to the city in electronic format.
• We support making all public documents easily accessible in a timely manner.
• We support strengthening and enforcing the city ethics code.
• We support council review of mayoral appointments to city boards, committee, commissions and work groups.
• We support efforts to enhance the ability of all residents to fully participate in city boards, committees and commissions.
• We favor extending local voting rights to all adult residents of Madison.
• We support enforcement of the city ordinance requiring the annual registration of lobbyists.
• We propose that the city adopt a resolution calling for state enabling legislation to allow local governments to use alternative electoral processes for local offices.
• We support the use of voter-marked paper ballots at all polling places.
• We support policies that ensure the right to vote free of intimidation or harassment.
• We support an inclusive public input process for the City's budget, including providing detailed information in the budget.
• We support expanded opportunities to offer meaningful public input to all public officials.

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Protected Civil Rights and Liberties

City policy should support the civil rights of all city residents, regardless of socioeconomic status, citizen status, disability and all other Madison protected classes. City law enforcement agencies should consistently reflect the goal of protecting and serving the public.

• We support effective formal citizen oversight of the police.
• We support strong enforcement of the Equal Opportunities Ordinance.
• We oppose the criminalization of loitering.
• We support treating drug-related issues as a public health, rather than a law-enforcement, concern.
• We support prioritizing neighborhood police officers and other community policing efforts.
• We oppose the reduction or elimination of domestic partner benefits.

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Tax Justice and Local Sovereignty

We support a system of progressive local taxation based on the ability to pay and sufficient to meet local needs.

• We oppose state-imposed caps on local spending.
• We support statutory changes allowing additional revenue options for local units of government.

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