Neighbors meet future alder, Occupiers

Tonight's Sherman Neighborhood Association meeting featured both candidates for District 12 alderperson and a delegation from Occupy Madison presenting their Fordem Avenue project. Overall, it was a successful 90 minutes (props to SNA co-chair Megan Maguire for keeping the discussion moving and on-topic!) that left attendees with a better sense of who's seeking to represent them and what's going on in our community.

Recap and early reaction after the jump...

District 12 candiates

The evening kicked off with a Q&A featuring Larry Palm and Leslie Peterson (no website at present), the two candidates to replace retiring Ald. Satya Rhodes-Conway. Palm highlighted his 8 years on the Common Council representing District 15 and service on numerous committees, including the library board and regional planning commission. Peterson shared her experience as a small business owner, single mom, and leadership roles on local nonprofit boards like the Social Justice Center and WYOU.

When asked about major issues facing the Northside, Peterson repeatedly focused on the importance of sustainable economic development; she would like to push for greater implementation of the Northside Plan. Palm discussed quality-of-life and safety concerns, as well as more frequent and incremental improvement of the Lakeview library.

That was about the extent of the differences between the candidates. Both were supportive of Mayor Soglin's "placemaking" initiative and the need to improve safety on Sherman Avenue, and both described the importance of the alder in facilitating communication among a diverse and geographically separated community like District 12. In each case, Palm emphasized his experience while Peterson described how they fit into her overall vision. Issue-wise, it's tough to tell what -- if anything -- separates them. Both were savvy enough to keep quiet during and after the Occupy Madison presentation.

My own reaction was that Palm spent so much time talking about his experience that he forgot to say why he wants to represent us. Peterson presented much more of a coherent and forward-looking vision for the Northside, and we desperately need an alder willing to focus on development (Palm has a good record in this area, but you wouldn't have known it after tonight). All things being equal my usual inclination is to stick with experience, but Peterson said enough for me to take her seriously as a prospective alder.

Occupy Madison

I was pleasantly surprised how the discussion with Occupy Madison went. There was some concern (including from me) that a large group would overwhelm the meeting, as happened with Lake View Hill, but the group did a far better job tonight of engaging with residents and their concerns. The group has an architect, a preliminary plan, and a willing seller. What they don't have is certainty in funding, operations, or long-term sustainability.

A lot of discussion revolved around clarifying how the Fordem Avenue project would be organized. Occupy stated that for all intents and purposes, regardless of formal status or zoning, they would function as a co-op. The discussion over "mission house" versus "single-room occupancy" (SRO) is really a legal distinction within the city CDBG loan they applied for (which led to the news breaking before Occupy wanted it to), but the latter would require a zoning change initiating a number of city processes.

Occupy members and supporters shared their positive experiences and vision for the project. Multiple folks talked about this being "a community, not a shelter." There are plans to incorporate office space for nonprofits and social service providers; one or two were said to be on board already. However, the group was unable to provide specifics on questions of community standards, funding, or the long-term stability of the project.

DAIS came up a number of times during and after the presentation, and no one had anything but wonderful things to say about the organization and their new home next to Occupy's prospective building. It's likely that Occupy doesn't know one of the big reasons DAIS enjoys such a sterling reputation with the neighborhood is because they'd reached out to the neighborhood well over a year before moving in -- Occupy's original plan was to launch with an open house this Saturday.

It seemed to me like the message that Occupy needs to put a lot more work into engaging their prospective neighbors is finally sinking in, although Ms. Konkel couldn't help but express her annoyance that they're being "rushed" into these "preliminary" discussions. Other sources suggest the Occupy experience has been less bucolic than its supporters claim, such as persistent alcohol issues with last year's encampment (although this group stated that the Token Creen site is alcohol- and drug-free). If they continue this course of conciliation and engagement, Occupy could well win over the neighborhood -- but they need to work at it.