Arnold for Alder

A majority of Fitchburg residents rent their homes. They have the right to safe and healthy living conditions, compliant with building and health codes. It is the City's responsibility to enforce those codes, and if necessary, take further action to remove managers and owners of dangerous housing by condemnation of the property.

As the chief executive and board of directors of the City, the Mayor and Council have the ultimate responsibility to direct the City's resources to resolve the situation at Ridgewood. Even with new ownership and management, bringing the complex back into compliance will take years.

City elected officials were right to direct inspectors to work hard to document code violations. They were wrong, they now agree, to not seek legal help with enforcement sooner. The Mayor was right to make contact with Gorman & Company as a potential redeveloper, but wrong to not take questions or confront management at a neighborhood meeting. Council President Williams was right to bring forward a rent abatement ordinance that is now nearly ready for implementation. So there have been both missteps and small victories so far.

Ridgewood adjoins my district across Fish Hatchery Road. If elected, I will work hard to keep the pressure on the current owners and management of Ridgewood to bring the complex into compliance with all codes, to coordinate help for the embattled residents of the complex, and to use the City's emergency resources to protect residents from dangerous conditions, if the owners and managers fail to do so. I will also attempt to reach out to residents of other rental property in the City, to engage them in the community, and to anticipate and prevent future housing crises like the one at Ridgewood.

On the day in April 2004 when the Transportation and Transit Commission was created, I applied to be a citizen member. I was appointed and confirmed in December, and the Commission met for the first time last night (March 14, 2005).

As a Commissioner, or if elected to the Council, an Alder, I will work hard on these initiatives:

• Plan and develop compact, mixed use neighborhoods that include residences, jobs, and places to meet our daily needs, like groceries, day care, health care, and recreation, so we don't need the car for every trip. Developers of residential neighborhoods should show their plan for meeting neighborhood retail needs.
• Balance pedestrian and bicycle safety with the need to move automobiles. Street crossing safety needs to be built into transportation plans at the beginning, not at the end. Our thoroughfares should not be dangerous barriers to our children and seniors.
• Enhance and connect our already excellent bicycle transportation network, support the development of the Badger State Trail on Fitchburg's west side, and make bicycle tourism a top priority for the City's economic development.
• Build up and reshape mass transit in Fitchburg so it becomes an attractive option for all of us, not just those with no alternative, those too old, young, or poor to have a car. We need commuter express busses to connect our employment centers and neighborhoods with others in the region.
• Work to build dense, compact, transit-friendly neighborhoods along U.S. Highway 14 and our rail line, toward the day we can participate in regional commuter rail.

I have many other specific transportation ideas, too numerous to list here, that can really make Fitchburg a less "taxing" place to get around, in both senses of the word!

Regional shopping generates more traffic that neighborhood shopping, and in general, I don't like it. I don't like shopping in big boxes, and don't want to live near them. I dislike the way regional shopping sucks money out of the community and sends it to faraway corporations, and I dislike the energy it uses and the sprawl it generates.

I feel strongly that Fitchburg needs a neighborhood-style hardware store. Since Johnson's closed at Fitchburg Ridge, I drive by Home Depot to shop at Dorn's. I would eagerly patronize an independent bookstore in Fitchburg. I look forward to the opening of Marc Jones' neighborhood convenience store on Syene Road.

I think Fitchburg needs a golf course, and I patronize Nine Springs. It's ideal for practicing my short game, and the best course in the county for taking out beginners.

I have already mentioned that neighborhood retail is very important to me. I'd like to see the services that we now find at Yarmouth Crossing, Hatchery Hill, and Fitchburg Ridge more widely distributed around the City. Every new neighborhood plan should include retail.

Bicycle tourism should be a cornerstone of our economic development efforts. What does Riley or Paoli have that could not be better developed in the more-than-century old village of Fitchburg? The Badger State Trail is expected to bring 200,000 visitors a year south from Camp Randall to Fitchburg, Belleville and Freeport, Il. They need to buy trail permits, bike parts, ice cream, beer, and sandwiches. They want to visit antique shops, artisans, and galleries.

If we do permit big box stores in Fitchburg, the only suitable location is at the future interchange of Verona and McKee Roads. I'd prefer Kohl's to Target, which would likely draw traffic from a wider area. I'd want smaller versions of their stores, with windows in front and parking in back. I'm opposed to a Lowe's home improvement center.

I don't see business and quality of life as a trade off. Fewer kinds of businesses now need to be segregated into special districts because of pollution (noise, dirt, toxins, light). Businesses need employees and customers. Residents need jobs, quality food, and consumer goods at fair prices. These components can make a positive feedback loop.

There are businesses that have little stake in the local community beyond extracting money from it. (The management of Ridgewood apartments comes to mind!) I would not welcome such businesses to Fitchburg. Likewise, very large employers, such as Epic Systems, can have negative effects on a community, by their impacts on the economy and the landscape. Such employers should be courted with great caution, if at all.

I am eager to work on programs that support local agriculture, for the benefits to the local food system and the social benefits of the city-to-farm connection. I am a strong supporter of the right to farm, and will propose programs that can help keep farmers farming, if that's what they want, or transition land to other agricultural uses, if the farm family is ready to quit.

The theme I would promote is sustainability. If a business or life style is sustainable, it's likely to help balance quality of life for residents and economic growth for business.

I think you're referring to the Quarry Ridge Recreation Area and the site once purchased for a fire station. There is also City land around the old City Hall.

I believe that city government is an enterprise that is owned by and run for the benefit of all of us. City staff, guided by elected officials, must build on the heritage, resources, and systems left by those who came before and leave the City enterprise in even better condition for those who will live here in the future. Every one of us has benefited from this enterprise, and we must do our part.

One key component in the enterprise is real estate. We need it for roads, parks, important City public spaces like City Hall, the Community Center, and a future library, and service functions like our public safety buildings and the recycling center. Sometimes the best way to have the land we need is to buy it and hold it for future use. If land is a good investment for the private sector, why not for the public sector?

As for the parcels you mention, I have not studied their history or proposed future uses, so I can't offer specific suggestions at this time.

I favor a Fitchburg Library, and would prefer to build it in the North Fish Hatchery Road corridor. A library there would be a visible and powerful positive force in the redevelopment of the area. I believe that the library is more than books and media. It's an essential public space in which to play out our community life together.

The library would have specific tangible benefits for all residents, even for those who never visit. As an additional city service, it would make Fitchburg a more desirable place to live and work, thus boosting property values and business activity. As a center for all of us to meet on an equal basis, it would help break down the barriers that the economic segregation of residential property builds up. As a place for learning and recreation, it would improve the climate for our youth, and thus the safety and peace of mind for all of us. Thus, I believe that the City should use all its financial tools, including bonding and the tax levy, to support the library.

On the other hand, there are those who would voluntarily support the library because they believe in its value and can afford to give more. Thus, I believe that a substantial portion of library funding should come from a community capital campaign. To underscore my own support for the library, I promise to match contributions to A Spark for the Fitchburg Library fund given to me during the campaign, up to $1000.

I recognize that some in the City do not believe a library is something we need. I intend to work to help them see the value of a Fitchburg city library. Likewise, we must also be careful to propose a library that most of us support, and that we can collectively afford.

I believe that it's very important to reach out to both renters and their advocates. This can be done by taking some City meetings on the road around the City, by posting City meeting agendas and minutes in locations convenient to renters, by reaching out to renters through F.A.C.T. and the quarterly City newsletter, and by encouraging neighborhood associations in all neighborhoods, both rental and owner-occupied.

In addition to neighborhood meetings in predominantly rental areas, it may be possible to learn some of the unmet needs of renters during meetings held for other purposes, for example, to plan the redevelopment of Ridgewood, to publicize procedures related to the new rent abatement ordinance, or to deal with overcrowding at Leopold School. Once some of these needs are identified, I would prioritize them with other issues facing the city and attempt to address the most urgent issues through program changes and initiatives. Fitchburg's Community and Economic Development Authority will play a key role in addressing issues specific to rental housing.

We often think of district 2 together with rental housing, but there are many rental units in district 4, which extends all the way north to Greenway Cross and Rimrock Road east of Fish Hatchery Road. I will continue to record any specific needs expressed by residents renting in the district as I canvas through the campaign period.

We must build sustainability into all our plans: employment, energy, transportation, housing, the food system, education, health care, even the planning process itself. Our rolling 20-year comprehensive plans merely map out what developers want to do, one project at a time. Under the current planning system, we will fill the City with development from north to south, all the way to the town of Oregon. We need a 100-year plan that lays out all the land that can ever be developed, and a way to permanently preserve open space and agricultural land.

We must complete the transportation plan for Fitchburg, and we must cooperate with neighboring cities and towns to build a regional transportation plan from our local plans. If we can't devise regional solutions for the regional problems that face us, then all our planning efforts could be overwhelmed by a tide of commuters, truckers, and delivery vans sweeping though the City.

I support County Executive Kathleen Falk's land use plan, which she calls Attain Dane! It calls for a regional design to cluster development along transit corridors, maintain separation of the county's small cities and villages, and permanently preserve open space. It uses a program of transfer of development rights to spread the benefits of development to all land owners, not just those in areas planned as urban areas. There is a comprehensive process for collecting citizen input for the urban design that has already started.

Fitchburg is unique in Dane County in that it has its own urban service area and a rural area into which to expand it. We can implement the essential elements of the Attain Dane! program now and begin to benefit from orderly development, transit-friendly densities, and the preservation of farmland and open space within a short distance of all our residents. As Attain Dane! is rolled out through intergovernmental agreements, our compatible program will be ready to integrate into the county-wide program.

I have found residents to be very interested in planning, but unable to effectively participate in Plan Commission meetings. For example, the Commission and applicants typically work from prepared materials (the evening's "packet") that ordinary citizens must visit City Hall to see in advance.

I ran for Council in part because of the effectiveness I had, as an ordinary citizen, in influencing projects. For example, in one evening at a Parks Commission meeting, I provided input that led to the doubling of the size of the Oak Meadow Park!

I believe elected officials must show leadership by meeting with neighborhood associations and other civic groups to help residents see how their voices can be heard. One effective tool is the Visual Preference Survey, by Anton Nelessen, of Rutgers University. It allows untrained citizens, including children, to see alternative styles of development and choose those which are most appealing. Another great tool is the forthcoming booklet "Great Neighborhoods—How to Bring Them Home", by the Dane County Planning Department. Easily read in an evening, it explains sprawl, how it came to be, and how to stop it, with examples from around Dane County that we'd all recognize.

The Fitchburg Plan Commission must continue their work on evaluating specific development projects. However, through their quarterly work sessions on in-house matters, they can develop ways to get the word out to residents that planning can be fun and rewarding. However, I think the City's elected officials have the real responsibility for that. They need to lead by example and give the City planning staff the resources needed to reach out to citizens.

Our land use policies must preserve significant land for agriculture and open space and mandate compact development that is less expensive than sprawl to service. Proper land use policies reduce both tax rates and traffic, while the wrong policies will saddle both us and future generations with spiraling increases in both.

Public safety includes emergency services, health and building code enforcement, environmental protection, and housing. Clearly, the crisis at Ridgewood is a failure in the provision of public safety. Fitchburg must have the resources to protect us from fire and crime and to cope with medical emergencies. Our housing stock must be safe and not divide us into pockets of poverty and affluence.

I will work to make Fitchburg ever more beautiful, livable, and sustainable for all residents, now and in the future. I support specific policies to preserve agriculture and open space, plan and build neighborhoods that are inexpensive to service and reduce auto traffic, help city staff provide better service at lower costs, foster desirable economic development, protect resident and worker health and the environment, and foster open and effective local government. I would use my time and energy to develop and implement programs based on these policies. More information is available at my campaign Web site, http://Arnold.US.

I thank the Chamber for sponsoring this forum, the moderator and my fellow candidates for participating, F.A.C.T. for televising it, and the audience here and at home for their interest. Please vote on April 5!