Madison Media Digest: Public money, Homelessness and Race

Here’s what we were reading while enjoying advertising for Koch Industries at Badger games

Public money

Mayor Paul Soglin continued working toward getting the City Council to approve a $200M plan just that would bring Exact Sciences’ headquarters just off the capital, which will include significant public financing. A vote is scheduled this week. There is still no equity analysis on the project. The City Council seeks to reinstate funding for a Midtown District Police Station, which Soglin’s proposed city budget delayed past 2021. The city could start a grant program to aid retail businesses on State Street, which Soglin believes are becoming an endangered species. The City Council will consider awarding a $25,000 grant to the Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development to focus on poverty and homelessness in downtown Madison.

Homelessness

After a long search, Dane County has purchased a building on East Washington that it plans to convert into a homeless day center. Some neighborhood residents have raised concerns about the location of the center. Many of the neighborhood worries about Occupy Madison’s Tiny House village on the East Side have not come to pass. The City Council showed little enthusiasm for Soglin’s proposals limiting time people can spend on benches. Soglin’s approach to homelessness adopts politically conservative rhetoric says Chris Rickert. One State Journal letter writer opposes Soglin’s efforts.

Race

Juan Jose Lopez, the first Latino elected to the Madison School Board, reflected on the growth of the community in Madison. WCCF plans to produce a Race to Equity report focusing on Latinos. Fabu says black people in Madison are being treated noticeably worse these days. Madison students won Race to Equity scholarships from the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, and the Boys and Girls Clubs won a $1.2M grant to help prepare Madison students for college.  Paul Fanlund previews a speech by a Brookings Institution scholar arguing that Madison can be a laboratory for progress on issues of social mobility and racial disparity. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne has dropped bail conditions on Cierra Finkley, a Madison woman charged in the stabbing death of her estranged boyfriend, but said he needed more time to decide whether to bring charges. The Young, Gifted and Black Coalition had focused attention on the case, arguing that self-defense laws need to be applied equally. Recently elected alder Samba Baldeh describes the challenges professionals of color face in the city. YWeb Career Academy trains women and people of color in web design and development.