P.O. Box 1222, Madison, WI 53701 | www.prodane.org | office@prodane.org | (608) 257-4985
by: Yogesh Chawla
Steering Committee elections are coming up in October. I was elected to the SC last year and it has been a rewarding experience. When you join the PDSC, you are given a unique opportunity to help shape the future of PD and are given the trust by membership to make important decisions.
Since PD is a member driven organization, volunteers do most of the work and this gives you a chance to work in many different capacities. During my first year, I have had the opportunity to help plan a counter inaugural evening, rework the PD web site, interview on the local news and draft fundraising letters. I could not imagine another political organization giving a new member so much responsibility and then having confidence in them to perform. Also, new ideas are encouraged and the SC is very receptive to giving new members opportunities to take leadership positions.
So what is the process of joining the SC and the time commitments? To join the SC, come to the September or October GMM for nominations. You can either nominate yourself or nudge the person next to you and ask them to nominate you. We then have elections at the October GMM. We will also include candidate profiles on the web. There are ten steering committee members and we strive for gender balance so women fill at least 5 of these positions. There is one SC meeting per month and SC members also attend the GMM. We also ask that SC members serve as a liaison to existing committees or taskforces. The liaison helps facilitate communication between SC and taskforces/committees and helps them achieve their goals. We also have quarterly meetings on special topics such as media, building membership, policy or whatever the hot issue is at the time.
PD is in a time of change right now. We have 2 new co-chairs, new and revitalized task forces, a new staff person, and an exciting legislative agenda that is gaining more and more momentum. The SC will play an important role over the next year and we need your help to create a more progressive community and increase the quality of life for all of our citizens. Please consider joining the Progressive Dane Steering Committee.
Posted by prodane at 06:53 PM
Progressive Dane has an exciting agenda for our September 28th General Membership Meeting. The meeting will kick off with a budget presentation from Mayor Dave. This will be followed by a question and answer session. If you have been reading our blog, you would see that our policy committee and electeds have also weighed in on the budget.
We also be discussing the Sick Leave campaign which is led by the 'Healthy Families, Healthy City' coalition. Details about this campaign are available on their web site as well as in the newsletter. This newsletter also has an analysis of the Candidate Agreement (CA). The elections committee has discussed the CA in depth and would like to seek input from membership.
PD members decided that coming up with a proposal to benefit locally-owned small business initiatives was a priority. We'll be discussing and voting on the Economic Issues Task Force's first take on a set of proposals to do this, which they hope to introduce to the public in October. Also don't forget that the Steering Committee (SC) elections are coming up in October. We will be taking SC nominations from the floor at this GMM. There is a newsletter article this month as well with more info on this process.
PD will also be voting on endorsing a resolution to Bring the Troops Home. There will be a brief presenation and question/answer period followed by a vote. More info on the group is available in this story.
See you at the GMM and then see you afterwards at the Beer Caucus for cold beer and hot gossip.
Posted by prodane at 06:24 PM
Progressive Dane is happy to announce that we have hired Laura Newman as our new staff person. PD would like to thank Sang Lee for the fantastic job she did as the PD staffer and we regret to announce that she has moved out of Madison.
During her tenure Sang helped build PD's membership with many new and innovative approaches to reaching out to the community. She also helped PD improve our online presence and newsletter.
Laura Newman is a lifelong Wisconsinite who grew up in a rural town in the northernmost tip of the state, watching black bears walk by her bedroom window and skiing in May. A few years ago, she completed her undergraduate degree at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME, where she was involved with campus groups like Amnesty International and the Bowdoin Students Coalition for Peace. Her interest in politics was strengthened by a year spent at the Université Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis, Sénégal, where she traveled around West Africa and took courses in political science. Since moving to Madison in September '03, Laura has worked with the Safe Haven Program at Lakeview Elementary School and has logged in numerous volunteer hours producing a radio show at WORT Community Radio Station, mentoring students from Madison East High School, doing office work at The Progressive Magazine, and baking at the non-profit Catacombs Coffee shop. She is excited about working for Progressive Dane and having the opportunity to help improve our community.
Posted by prodane at 03:49 PM
Michael Jacob recently testified on behalf of the PD policy committee at the Board of Estimates meeting. His testimony included many of the suggestions and concerns of the policy committee. Excerpts from his testimony are below. To catch up on budget matters, please read this blog entry from Brenda Konkel.
From Michael Jacob:
As we all know, these are tight financial times, both economically and "thanks" to the Governor and the State Legislature foisting levy limits onto local governments. As was documented in the Capital Times last week, capital expenditures and the resulting debt service in local operating budgets are not subject to the state limits; so these suggestions will not help ease the strain on this year’s operating budget. But they should be considered in the context of how much is reasonable to ask the taxpayers to pay for capital improvements in tight financial times and whether the credit card nature of such spending is a good long-term policy.
The details are available in this PDF file.
In sum, the Progressive Dane Policy Committee has identified 27 projects that should be cut, delayed or cancelled, totaling more than $21 million in proposed borrowing. We’ve also identified eight projects where enhanced funding, totaling just over $1.1 million, would benefit our city. The net result is a reduction of nearly $20 million in the Mayor’s proposed Capital Budget. This $20 million is all in general obligation bonds and debt maintained by utilities. These cuts can produce significant reductions in the property tax levy, be available for other priorities, or both. If all of the suggestions are adopted, property taxpayers and residents will save an estimated $2.8 million dollars next year and each year that these obligations would take to pay off.
These suggestions take care of essential projects now, enhance the investment in clean water, affordable housing and safe neighborhoods, and put off of delete projects that must be considered luxuries or something well short of absolutely necessary right now.
The debate over the Capital Budget is relatively young. I encourage you to look over these suggestions, and the entire Capital Budget, closely. Visit, as we have the sites of the proposed projects. Think hard about what is needed and what would just be nice to have.
Let me stress that perhaps not all of these projects will be worth having on the chopping block. To the best we could, based on information available from the city and by actually visiting some of the proposed project sites, we’ve determined these projects can wait, be cut partially, or cancelled altogether. As more information is gathered, you may determine that some will indeed need to occur and we may well agree with you. But I think you’ll find this slate of ideas to be realistic, honest and forward thinking, all within the constraints of limited resources.
Posted by prodane at 08:24 PM