FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Ald. Brian Benford 332-3098 (cell)

Ald. Austin King 213-0104 (cell)

Ald. Brenda Konkel 345-8720 (cell)

Progressive Alders Offer Alternative to DCR Proposal

Substitute motion would fund needed services, keep current structure

Madison – Three Alders today are announcing an alternative proposal to strengthen the city’s enforcement of civil rights laws. The proposal, below, will be offered as a substitute by Alderpersons Brian Benford, Austin King, and Brenda Konkel at the Council meeting of June 21.

“I applaud the Mayor for initiating a discussion on civil rights in our community – it is long overdue, and it has led to a healthy resurgence in dialogue about race, disability, gender, and other protected classes. We have heard loud and clear, however, that the public does not support the restructuring of the Affirmative Action Department (AAD) and Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) into a new Department of Civil Rights,” said Ald. Benford, District 12. “The diverse community organizations and individuals who have spoken out against this proposal deserve real progress and funding commitments for important services, not merely bureaucratic changes that fail to truly help us achieve our civil rights goals.”

Organizations that have formally opposed the Mayor’s plan include the City’s Affirmative Action Commission, the Madison Equal Opportunities Commission, Communities United, Latinos United for Change and Advancement (LUCHA), the ACLU, NAACP, League of Women Voters, Progressive Dane, the Madison Times, Umoja and the Equal Opportunities Commission staff.

Ald. Austin King, District 8, acknowledged that the alternative is more expensive than the original proposal, but held that the community would support the increased funding of these services. “It’s true that our proposal is not cost-neutral, but one thing that citizens on both sides of this issue have agreed on is that civil rights are highly valued in this city. I think it’s appropriate for the Council to recognize the community’s support for civil rights by investing in these services. There’s no better indication of our values than what we prioritize in our budget, and I think this city prioritizes civil rights.”

“Instead of implementing a restructuring plan that has been met with significant resistance and concern from impacted groups, we believe the Council should start by taking immediate, tangible steps – as outlined in our alternative proposal - that will achieve many of the goals identified by the community as important. Let’s begin to demonstrate our commitment to continuing to address these issues, and fund critically needed services, and let’s do it without the potential to weaken the quality and quantity of services offered by these two vital City agencies,” said Ald. Brenda Konkel, District 2. “Regardless of the outcome of the restructuring proposal, we need to continue to work on a variety of other issues in our community such as inequities in bus fare increases, affordable housing, affordable childcare, improved job training programs and much, much more.”

Alternative Proposal

• Maintain the current structure of two departments.
• Hire permanent directors for both AAD & EOC and immediately elevate both new directors to the Mayor’s Management Team (“cabinet”).
• Retain the Investigative Supervisor position in the EOC Department
• Retain the Contract Compliance officer position in the AAD.
• Co-locate the departments by early 2006.
• Immediately allocate funds (in amounts equal to those proposed by the Mayor’s original proposal) towards Fair Housing Testing and the Language Access Program (as clarified by the Ad-Hoc Committee’s deliberations, these proposed funds are intended only for translation of City documents).
• Allocate additional funds towards providing interpreter services so that Madisonians with limited English proficiency can access and participate fully in City meetings and processes.
• Conduct a full-scale evaluation of both EOC and AAD (to be completed by January 2006) to determine ways of enhancing the agencies’ services and improving effectiveness.
• Create a Civil Rights Task Force charged with developing and prioritizing specific initiatives aimed at addressing civil rights and quality of life issues in Madison. The Task Force shall make a report of its recommendations to the Council by December 2005.