Let's celebrate one year in office!

Dear Neighbor,
Time flies and I have completed over one year in office. Thanks for working together with me to help improve our community, our government, and environment for all of our neighbors. I am hosting a celebration at the Harmony Bar and Grill (2201 Atwood) this Tuesday, June 25th from 5:00 to 7:00. There will be food, a music mix that I will put together, and some free beer (get there early!). Full details are here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/446957082800019/

2018 – 2019 Priorities and Accomplishments

Flooding

• Served on Lake Levels Task Force and crafted detailed recommendations to increase flooding resiliency, including aggressive aquatic plant harvesting, coordinated dam management strategies, 5-phase dredging plan and quarterly updates to the public.

• Successfully changed lake level management to manage lakes at their seasonal minimums.

Clean Lakes, Clean Water and Climate Change

• Worked to pass aggressive manure storage ordinance to reduce phosphorous entering watershed.

• Supported land purchases that prioritized wetlands restoration such as Pheasant Branch Conservancy, while adding additional funds to the land conservation budget.

• Sponsored amendment to fund agroforestry demonstration project in Silverwood Park that planted trees among row crops, along with riparian buffers that trap run-off water, conserve soil and produce harvestable crops.

• Worked with Madison Water Utility for a detailed report on PFAS contamination that was recorded and distributed to the public.

• Supported funding for harvestable buffer strips, cover crops, manure injection and manure digesters.

• Co-sponsored a resolution in support of a revenue-neutral carbon tax on fossil fuels.

Criminal Justice Reform

• Wrote a resolution in support of expungement reform in Wisconsin.

• Worked with Dane County and other counties around the state for a cannabis legalization, taxation and regulation referendum that passed with strong support.

• Working with clerk of courts to improve trial notifications by allowing for notifications to multiple people, and sending notifications until confirmation received.

• Opposed $150 million dollar project in favor of alternatives to reduce our jail population and build a mental health crisis center, to treat mental health issues outside of a law enforcement context.

• Worked with University of Wisconsin on a study that showed one billion dollar economic impact of medical marijuana legalization over a 5-year period.

Open Government and Public Engagement

• Recorded meetings and distributed to public, including flood task force meetings, PFAS updates, and quarterly flood updates.

• Worked to get a pilot project to record two standing committee meetings per month.

• Provide constituent engagement through detailed blog updates, social media and neighborhood print publications.

• Served on the Engage Dane task force to help increase community engagement and involvement in County government.

Efficient and Accurate Elections

• Held a voter registration drive at The Beacon homeless day resource center.

• Worked with the County Clerk and County IT to improve elections reporting, resulting in fast and reliable elections returns on election night.

• Worked with County IT to help distribute elections results using protocols like REST, so these results can easily be integrated by 3rd parties.

Affordable Housing

• Co-sponsored a resolution to double the affordable housing fund from $3 million to $6 million.

• Sponsored resolution for county funding of affordable housing for two developments in District 6.

Arts and Culture

• Serve as Dane Arts commissioner and help evaluate grant applications to distribute over $200,000 of funding to the arts, including many projects in district 6.

• Developed a special grant program in honor of Liesel Blockstein to fund arts projects aiming to increase civic and political engagement.