Jim Rocheleau retired and moved from Waukesha to Madison last year to be closer to his children and grandchildren. He regularly protests in the Democracy Rush Hour Rally held every Tuesday at 8 a.m. on the corner of University and Farley avenues in Madison.
What do you think is the biggest challenge our community faces?
I have lived in Madison for just over a year now, and I lived in Waukesha for the last twentysomething years. From my point of view as a retiree, the biggest challenge is growth. Growth of the city, growing pains with traffic—and road situations and finding housing. I have had no trouble finding an apartment, but it’s not inexpensive. I knew that moving to Madison, I expected that. But I can see how it could be challenging for people to afford an apartment or live in Madison.
What do you wish people in our community understood better?
Have you ever heard people outside of Madison refer to the city as the Republic of Madison? If you’re familiar with Wisconsin politics, there’s this image outside of Dane County as Dane County being obviously liberal, progressive, but also maybe not realistic, because there’s a lot of wealth in Madison. There’s a lot of people perceived as what you’d say are “armchair progressives.” Because they have a lot of resources, it’s easy to have certain viewpoints about society. I don’t know if that’s actually true. But there is wealth, and with wealth comes insularity, and you’re not exposed to the realities of what the average person is going through. Like some farmer in outstate Wisconsin who’s struggling to keep his property and he’s behind the proverbial “eight ball” financially, he’s going to look at Madison and say, “These people don’t live in reality, you know?” That’s why I think Wisconsin is very polarized right now.
What is one change you would make if you could, that would make life better for people in our community?
Madison has a lot to offer. It’s a wonderful city. There’s a lot of resources, a lot of good museums, lots of good entertainment venues. But I don’t think many people in other parts of the state really know too much about Madison. Maybe Madison could do a better job of promoting itself? There is something going on every weekend here, some festivals, something at the Alliant Center, some shows. I took my daughter to a gem and mineral show, and that was a really cool thing for little kids. But how would you know about it? Madison is an under recognized, underutilized resource for the rest of the state.
What in our community gives you hope?
I guess it’s just the attitude of the people at those Democracy Rush Hour protests. I’ve been meeting people since I moved here. There’s a lot of really good people at those things—, people who care, who are concerned, and who are getting upset about what’s going on. They’re willing to get out, and that’s something that I admire in other people.
