September 9, 2011

Mayor's explosive budget quiet for Northside

This week Mayor Soglin released his proposed 2012 capital budget. Thus far the big item of contention is his major reduction of the City's TIF subsidy for the Edgewater Hotel project, which has created a firestorm of controversy and reopened this contentious issue. Meanwhile, there's not a whole lot in there that directly affects our part of town.

But that's not to say our alders don't have much to consider. Ald. Rhodes-Conway was one of the leading opponents of the Edgewater project; she voted against it a year and a half ago, and told the State Journal she'll support the Mayor on this.

Our freshman Ald. Weier was listed as "undecided" in their survey, and it's likely Edgewater supporters and the developer are actively courting her vote. How do her constituents feel about it?

The biggest thing for us in the Mayor's budget is $700,000 to finish the Warner Park parking lot. I, for one, am looking forward to having that finished. (As an aside, why did this need to be a three-year project, and why did they decide to work on the connecting road now, with the Northport entrance partially blocked by construction? I'm genuinely curious.)

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