Budget 2020: Planting seeds for our collective future

Dear Neighbors,
We recently concluded the 2020 County Budget. As Supervisor Patrick Miles so eloquently put it, we are planting seeds for our future to invest in housing for our neighbors, increase our resilience to flooding in the wake of accelerated climate change, and continue working on transparent and accessible government.

In this update, I will cover budget amendments, a manure spreading emergency in wake of a wet year and early winter, an F-35 update, and lots of neighborhood news.

I am also happy to announce that I am running for a second term and am looking forward to talking to you in more detail so we can continue to build our shared vision of a Dane County that is great place to live for all of our neighbors.

2020 Budget Amendments

I authored three budget amendments and was a co-sponsor on many other budget amendments. My biggest effort was a $3 million budget amendment to buy flood-prone land with an eye towards converting it to wetlands. We can address the symptoms of flooding through dredging and improving flow in our watershed. But ultimately, we need to address the root cause of flooding by keeping rain where it falls. I knew the $3 million dollar ask was aggressive for a first-term supervisor, but as a district we have experienced firsthand the effects of climate change and it is important that we invest in our future and protect our neighborhood.

I also earmarked funds to work with farmers on a manure composting pilot project. It is essential that we reduce the volume of manure and phosphorous entering our watershed, and composting done properly does exactly that. The earmark will target money for a compost spreader that will be shared between farms, and the farmers will report back with best practices so these conservation strategies can be spread around the county.

It is also essential to build public resources for the public good so I supported capital funds for a public apple orchard at Silverwood Park that builds on the Agroforestry projects I supported there last year. We didn’t get all of the funds we asked for and instead 100k was put into a separate fund that organizations can compete for to fund park improvements. I wasn’t thrilled with the process to create this fund as it wasn’t run through the proper committees but we will provide oversight and direction of this process on the Environment, Ag and Natural Resources committee that I serve on.

I also co-sponsored the following initiatives (thanks to the county board office for providing these summaries):

• Increase Food Systems Coordinator position from .5 to 1.0 FTE ($30,375) to work with a variety of food-related organizations to build partnerships, strengthen our community food system, and increase access to healthy food for all Dane County residents.  Our neighbor Joe Mingle is a leader in these efforts.

• Increase eviction prevention funding ($50,000).  This fund provides financial assistance to applicants who do not qualify for HUD Emergency Solutions Grant assistance.  This will allow more flexibility to serve families and individuals. 

• Provide funding contribution for the Salvation Army Shelter and Housing project ($1,300,000) to develop a mixed-use project, including purpose-built family and women’s shelters, pay-to-stay shelter, medical respite shelter, supportive services center, and residential housing units.

• Provide funding for Dane County Extension to work with Youth Governance Program participants and local partners to create videos for new and existing committee members related to Roberts Rules of Order and other parliamentary procedures ($12,000).

Budget is a busy time of year for County Board so thanks for hanging in there with me. I welcome any budget suggestions you have at any point in the year.

Manure Runoff Emergency

A map of the sever run off risk on november 16th. full forecast available here: http://www.manureadvisorysystem.wi.gov/runoffrisk/index

You see all that purple on this map? Those are the areas that have severe manure run-off risks due to frozen soil and snow (as of Nov. 15th). You can see real time forecasts of run-off risks here:

http://www.manureadvisorysystem.wi.gov/runoffrisk/index

Dairy Farmers are having a really tough fall not only due to milk prices and federal policy, but also due to the fact that they have nowhere to spread the manure.

Due to flooding and abnormally high rain followed by a harsh cold snap, the ground cannot hold the manure. With the early winter, concrete frost is forming, leaving little to no air pockets for the manure and melting snow to soak in to the soil.

The options the farmers have are to attempt to spread to low risk fields that have the least impact on the watershed, truck manure to a farmer with pit capacity or sewage treatment plant (expensive) and watch the forecast/weather and hope for a good window. They will need to work with their agronomist and the Land and Water Resources Department.

Farmers are under tremendous pressure and our watershed is as well. With the early winter, leaf harvesting/collection is lagging and the alum project that would have removed a significant portion of phosphorous at the quarry pit on Voit farm has been cancelled. We will need to quantify what the additional phosphorous loads will be on our lakes.

This is a situation that my colleagues and I on the Land Conservation Committee and Environment, Ag and Natural Resources Committee are watching really carefully.

For more details, please see these two documents:

Update on Winter Spreading Permits and Fall Conditions:
https://dane.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=7904613&GUID=6DEAB201-FA86-40CE-8936-91AAFF2C9C41

Wisconsin Manure Applicator Update:
https://dane.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=7904612&GUID=2BCF46D4-3ACE-422C-975E-6B474FD2A722

Bing bong performs at the f-35 protest and birthday fundraiser

F-35s Update

A big thanks to our neighbors Bob Queen and Anita Hecht for using their birthday as a fundraiser to raise money and awareness of the F-35 issues. Thanks to all the bands and community members who came out in support at the Crystal Corner.

I missed the beginning but was happy to catch my favorite local band Bing Bong. There is a Black Friday protest in the Capitol. I encourage you all to attend and make your voices heard. Here are the details:

https://www.facebook.com/events/434954590536176/

Thanks to the Safe Skies and Clean Water coalition for their advocacy, and a big thanks to my colleagues Alder Marsha Rummel and State Rep Chris Taylor for their consistent leadership on this.

Art and Literature Lab Ground Breaking

huge crowd attends the artS + literature lab ground breaking

Congrats to the Arts + Literature Lab (ALL) on breaking ground on their new building on Livingston Street next to the Sylvee. ALL brings together visual arts, performing arts, and writing into one space where artists can collaborate. They emphasize equity in their programming and provide many valuable after- school programs.

I heard at the program how many communities are losing the arts and artists to gentrification (I think Marsha talked about this). The ALL project is a cool situation where the artists are moving in rather than being moved out. It was an honor to speak at the event and you can catch my brief remarks here.
https://www.facebook.com/ychawla/videos/10221146551877898/

It is my honor to serve on the Dane Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission and I have been happy to support ALL over the years as a commissioner, neighbor and member.

Mentoring Positives 15-year anniversary

yogesh accepts the muriel pipkins award from will green on behalf of gloria reyes. Image courtesy of Hedi LaMarr Photography.

Mentoring Positives celebrated their 15-year anniversary on November 16th. The evening was filled with empowering stories of how mentoring and investing time and energy in our youth yields such positive outcomes.

I commend Will Green on the work he is doing in our community and it was my honor to accept the Muriel Pipkins award on behalf of School Board president Gloria Reyes who was unable to attend the event. Muriel was Will’s mom, and her initials MP inspired the name Mentoring Positives.

Mentoring Positives has helped 750 kids with a 96% graduation rate, and sell Off The Block Salsa and pizza products in seven stores.

I encourage you to learn more about the work Mentoring Positives is doing in our community:

http://mentoringpositives.org/

Running for a second term!

It has been my great honor to represent District 6 from 2018 to 2020. I take my job very seriously, and have tried to put my whole self into our shared goals. I know the challenges we face in our community like severe racial disparities, flooding and climate change, and a lack of opportunity for all of our neighbors to have a bright future. We have taken some positive steps in the last few years, but our work is not nearly complete. I am asking for your support as I seek a second term on the board.

I will be holding a “Wine and Sign” event at Table Wine (2045 Atwood Ave) on Sunday, December 8th from 2:00 to 4:00. Please stop by and sign my nomination papers or just say “Hi” and let’s chat about County politics. I will have more details soon on Facebook.