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May 26, 2005

PD members on the editorial pages

PD members Satya Rhodes-Conway and Lisa Subeck recently sounded off on the lobbying ordinance, minimum wage and race issues. Highlights from the editorials are below:

Lobbying - Satya Rhodes Conway:
Madison Ald. Brenda Konkel is performing a valuable public service by filing lobbying complaints. Her purpose is not to stifle public input -- on the contrary, it is to preserve the public's right to know.

Like Ald. Konkel, I strongly believe that the public has a right to know who is influencing our elected representatives, particularly when our tax dollars are involved. I appreciate Ald. Konkel's efforts to enforce the law -- something that every elected official should be concerned about.

Rather than questioning Ald. Konkel's motivation and methods, we should commend her for standing up for open government.

-May 23, 2005 - The Capital Times

Race Issues - Lisa Subeck:
A community forum on race and the media gave me the chance to hear many perspectives and to be reminded of the tremendously positive and open-minded core values and beliefs of many in our community.

Contrast what I heard at this forum with some very disturbing remarks made by one of Madison's City Council members at Tuesday night's council meeting, and I am reminded that segments of our community have a long way to go toward embracing the diversity we have in Madison and recognizing their own lack of understanding when it comes to cultures and experiences that are different from their own.

During the council discussion of whether the city should open publicly backed home loan programs to taxpaying residents who may not have a Social Security number, Ald. Judy Compton showed the ignorance and arrogance that drive people to offer that old line of "Some of my best friends are black."

While claiming that she does "not see color or nationality," Compton then went on to say that in her day job (real estate), she encounters many people: "They're Albanian; they're black; they're white; they're Spanish."

Obviously she does see color and nationality. But does she - and the three other council members who joined her in voting against the proposal - understand the value of diversity? Promoting the notion of colorblindness in a racist society is dangerous because it ignores the reality of power inequality and the different life chances afforded people of color and immigrants in communities like Madison.

Instead, we must honestly see that having people with different experiences and life chances is a good thing. It can open our eyes to new ideas and pressing challenges. Even more important is how we respond.

-May 26, 2005 - The Capital Times

Minimum Wage - Satya Rhodes-Conway:
Gov. Jim Doyle should veto Assembly Bill 49, the local minimum wage pre-emption bill. While I support a statewide minimum wage increase, I do not support the deal the governor made with Republican leadership to pre-empt local control and overturn the local minimum wages in Milwaukee, Madison and La Crosse.

The local minimum wage increases passed in Wisconsin, particularly the one in Madison, are groundbreaking and needed. The cost of living in Madison is more than 10 percent higher than it is in the other metropolitan areas of the state. An increase to $6.50 doesn't have the same impact in Madison as it might in Green Bay or Superior.

If AB 49 becomes law, it will rob the thousands of workers in Madison who earn less than $7.75 per hour of a raise under our city's Fair Wage ordinance. Those who earn between $6.50 and $7.75 will not be helped by an increase in the state minimum wage.

It is unjustifiable to overturn these increases and take money from those who need it most. Doyle is not only selling out minimum wage workers, organized labor and local governments, he's also giving away one of the best campaign issues Democrats could have.

-May 16, 2005 - Wisconsin State Journal

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