This article by Tiffany Knox originally appeared on DontMessWithMadison.org Since July 2022, “Madison Forward” has been collecting signatures to call for a special election to change Madison’s form of government. Many citizens are skeptical about this change. This article will look at two reasons why Madison residents should be concerned:

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says in this video that we don’t want government to run smoothly! Gridlock is a good thing. Partisan conflict is fine. Why? Because if government were free from all these hassles, it would grow in power and size. A lot. And the power of ordinary

What is lost? The right to vote is lost: If we vote for this change, we lose the right to elect a mayor to be the city’s executive. The city council now gets to select the city’s executive.  Accountability is lost: Currently, if Madison citizens don’t like the mayor, they can

Current form of governmentMadison has a Mayor-Council form of government. There is a city council with seven members who represent seven districts of the city. Voters elect a council member for their district. Because the city is not very big, the council members’ jobs are part-time. Every voter gets to

Topics of Note Transition to City Manager form of government Approval of liquor licenses Recognition of performance of Madison Police Department All votes unanimous  Attendance  City Officials Present: Paul Finley, Mayor  Mary Beth Broeren, Director of Developmental Services  City council Members Present: Absent: Ranae Bartlett Greg Shaw Teddy Powell Connie Spears Maura Wroblewski Karen Denzine   Governance Model

On December 12, The Madison City Council briefly discussed the possibility of future marijuana dispensaries in the city. At the December 21 meeting, the Council voted on whether to allow marijuana dispensaries in the city. The vote failed. During discussion, several concerns were voiced: As of December 12 it was