June 20, 2019

Let's celebrate one year in office!

June 20, 2019/ Yogesh Chawla

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) on Tuesday June 25th from 5:00 to 7:00. There will 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/

Please keep reading for a list of all we accomplished together so far!

May 13, 2019

$225 Million for New Jail, Quarterly Flood Updates, and Cover Crop Program

May 13, 2019/ Yogesh Chawla

The County is hastily moving forward to approve a new jail with borrowing of $150 million which will cost over $225 million dollars over 20 years. In this update I will summarize why I think we should follow the lead of jurisdictions all across the country and approach our criminal justice issues from a public health lens. I will also cover our first quarterly update as a result of the Lake Levels Task Force and the ground breaking of an Agroforestry pilot project and Continuous Cover Crop program.

April 18, 2019

1 Billion Dollars in Economic Benefits with Medical Marijuana Legalization

April 18, 2019/ Yogesh Chawla

I partnered with a research team at UW Madison to do a cost benefit analysis of marijuana legalization in Wisconsin. The study found over one billion dollars in economic benefits along with a variety of social, public safety and public health benefits. Please read our press release with details of the study.

April 09, 2019

Elections Data, Final Lake Levels Recommendations, Zoo and Neighborhood News

April 09, 2019/ Yogesh Chawla

Thanks to all of you who volunteered on campaigns, worked the polls, and got out there and voted. I know how hard it is to keep showing up and keep working. Your commitment to democracy is inspiring. In this update, I will also cover new ways to get election data, final lake levels recommendations, an update on the zoo and neighborhood news.

March 17, 2019

Lakes Levels Task Force Recommendations

March 17, 2019/ Yogesh Chawla

I drafted lake levels task force recommendation and staff compiled a list of recommendations based of feedback from all task force members. Please continue to read this post for my recommendations, meeting info, and a live video explaining my reasoning.

March 15, 2019

PFAS in our drinking water: A special report

March 15, 2019/ Yogesh Chawla

I share many of your concerns with PFAS compounds in our drinking water. PFAS or Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyls are compounds that were used in fire suppression foam at the airport are man made chemicals that are found in commercial products like Scotchguard and Teflon. They are known as ‘emerging contaminants’ as we are recently learning about their effects on humans. Please keep reading to learn more about levels of contamination and what the next steps are.

February 25, 2019

Lake Levels Task Force, Jail Construction Changes, and Manure Storage

February 25, 2019/ Yogesh Chawla

Dear Neighbors,
The last few weeks have been very busy. The lake levels task force which I am on has met three times with three additional meetings pending. We are poised to pass a comprehensive overhaul of our manure storage ordinance and I detail some unfortunate challenges to the Jail construction project. I also have updates on bike trail construction and improvements.

February 11, 2019

Lake Levels Task Force Public Meetings

February 11, 2019/ Yogesh Chawla

I will post audio from the lake levels task force to this blog entry. There will either be links to audio files or links to the official Madison City Channel recording.

January 26, 2019

Lake levels task force, expungement, green fleet and brrr... stay warm!

January 26, 2019/ Yogesh Chawla

I hope your new year is off to a great start, and that you are making progress towards any new year’s resolutions you might have. One of my resolutions is not only to keep you informed so you can get involved in government, but to work towards our shared goals of affordable housing, fighting climate change, racial justice in our criminal justice system, and clean lakes and water.

In this update I will cover progress we are making on all of these issues. It is going to be bitter cold this next week, so please stay safe, stay warm, and try to help those around you who might need it. This is a long update as there is so much going on!

December 20, 2018

Happy Holidays: a focus on the arts, neighborhood news, and manure storage

December 20, 2018/ Yogesh Chawla

Hello Friends and Neighbors,
Happy holidays. I hope you have quality time to spend with family and friends in the coming weeks and time to reflect on what went well in 2018 and look what we can do together in 2019 to make a better community for our friends and neighbors.

In this update, I will discuss $116,000 that the Dane Arts Commission on which I serve granted to local arts organizations, lots of neighborhood news, and an updated manure storage ordinance we are working on to jump start our goal to remove phosphorous from our lakes.

November 23, 2018

2019 Budget Wrap Up

November 23, 2018/ Yogesh Chawla

Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Happy Thanksgiving. No matter how or whether you celebrate, I hope you have some quality time to spend with your friends and family. I am thankful that I have the opportunity to represent some of the most informed, active and civic-minded voters and neighbors in the entire country. In this update, I do a 2019 budget wrap-up and give flooding policy and logistical updates.

November 10, 2018

Election wrap-up, budget updates, and winter prep

November 10, 2018/ Yogesh Chawla

Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I know so many of you worked so hard civically and politically during this election cycle. In this update, I will give an election wrap-up, an update on the 2019 budget, a jail update and talk about what you can do to help our lakes as the cold weather approaches.

October 07, 2018

Flood Resolution Passage, Jail Updates, and Cultural Affairs Grants

October 07, 2018/ Yogesh Chawla

Dear Neighbors,
With the consistent heavy rains, the flood threats are not over. Please make sure you have your sandbags in place and that you are prepared for flash flooding. We had a dry stretch, but that has been followed by days of rain, sometimes heavy. In this update, I will cover flood legislative updates, a change in jail construction plans, and a substantial investment in the arts.

September 19, 2018

Lake Levels Resolution, Budget Hearings, Affordable Grandfamily Housing Funding and other news

September 19, 2018/ Yogesh Chawla

Dear Neighbors,
As we recover slowly from the historic flooding in Dane County, we need a scientific path forward to proper lake levels. In this update, I cover a resolution that I helped draft, a live streaming lake level presentation, money for grandfamily housing, budget hearings and lots of odds and ends.

August 23, 2018

Dane County Floods

August 23, 2018/ Yogesh Chawla

We have had unprecedented flooding in Dane County and seen the devastating effects particularly in western Dane County. It is really tough on a lot of people who have had significant property damage and our hearts go to our neighbors who have lost their lives or been injured.

August 07, 2018

Early Voting Info, Election Audits, Conservation Tour, and Neighborhood News

August 07, 2018/ Yogesh Chawla

Dear Neighbors,
I hope you all are enjoying the summer and have an active plan to vote (or have already voted early). In this update, I will cover early voting info and useful elections info, transparency and auditing the vote in Dane County, highlights from a land conservation tour, and neighborhood news.

July 24, 2018

Dane Arts, AtwoodFest, Voter Registration and Referendum Updates

July 24, 2018/ Yogesh Chawla

Hello Neighbors,
Please see my updates below, including a tour of conservation practices at farms and parks for the Land Conservation Committee, an update on the Cultural Affairs Commission I was recently appointed to, and updates on the voter registration drive at The Beacon and cannabis legalization advisory referendum.

July 07, 2018

Voter Registration at Beacon, Yahara WINS and SASY Goes Solar

July 07, 2018/ Yogesh Chawla

Hello Neighbors, I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weekend. I am writing to update you on a voter registration drive at the Beacon (the homeless day resource center in our district), updates on efforts by Yahara WINS and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program for clean lakes including harvestable buffer strips and aerial cover crop planting. I also wanted to highlight the great efforts in our neighborhood to expand solar energy. There is also some quick updates on the advisory referendum on legalizing cannabis, capital city trail closures, and neighborhood news.

June 17, 2018

Lake Levels, Reproductive Health, and Keeping Families Together

June 17, 2018/ Yogesh Chawla

In the past few weeks, I toured Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, discussed lake levels in a joint EANR and Lakes and Watershed commission meeting, and helped move forward an advisory referendum on legalizing, taxing and regulating marijuana in Dane County and other counties in Wisconsin. Here is more detail:

June 08, 2018

Marijuana Legalization, Algae Blooms, and Moms Demand Action

June 08, 2018/ Yogesh Chawla

On Thursday night at the County Board meeting, I introduced an advisory referendum to be placed on the ballot in Fall 2018 to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana. The specific question is:

"Should marijuana be legalized, taxed and regulated in the same manner as alcohol for adults 21 ears of age or older?"

Channel 3000 provides a good summary of the referendum here:

https://www.channel3000.com/news/advisory-referendum-to-conduct-opinion-poll-on-legalizing-marijuana-is-introduced-in-dane-county-1/751027514

D6 Updates