Arnold for Alder

Since 2005, I have served on the Fitchburg Common Council and city commissions and committees on public safety, transportation, resource conservation, neighborhood planning, electric substations, and cable TV. I am active in Smoke-Free Fitchburg, Grassroots Fitchburg, and Dane County United, and am past vice president of the Byrnewood Neighborhood Association.

I am employed as the Practice Director for Information Technology for the University of Wisconsin E-Business Consortium, and have been an ecology professor, software product manager, and consultant. I volunteer for Interfaith Hospitality Network and Meals on Wheels.

If re-elected, I will continue these measures: maintain the list of neighborhood association officers for Fitchburg, participate in e-mail discussions of many Fitchburg groups, attend neighborhood meetings, maintain e-mail discussion lists for progressive activists and other local groups, occasionally send e-mail alerts to constituents about important city issues and events, widely publish my personal phone number and e-mail address, and return all calls and messages from city residents.

This campaign season I am reaching out to constituents with four listening sessions on issues of importance to the city and district.

Local governments should regulate development to protect the common good. New Fitchburg neighborhoods should follow the regional design in the City's Comprehensive Plan. Fitchburg government should require sustainable development. For example, proposals should be evaluated on their environmental and transportation costs over their entire life cycles.

I support urban development along our eastern rail line, except in sensitive environmental corridors. City government should require development that is functional, attractive, durable, and located according to the Plan. City government should recruit developers with expertise in transit-oriented, mixed-use development and the financial resources to execute their proposals.