From the Madison Water Utility For the first time ever, Madison Water Utility is implementing a conservation rate for our residential customers (people living in single-family homes and duplexes). The change makes Madison the largest city in Wisconsin to offer a residential water rate that rewards conservation. The new rate goes into effect today (9/29/2015), […]
My fellow County Board Supervisors and I just finished the extensive process of completing the 2016 Dane County Budget. The process starts with the County Executive proposing his budget, Supervisors proposing amendments, numerous committees voting on whether or not to support the proposed amendments, and then the Personnel and Finance Committees reviews all of the […]
Recently, I introduced my 2016 Budget for Dane County. My budget focuses on providing our critical core services while expanding partnerships to better our community. My budget includes the strongest efforts yet by Dane County to address mental illness. I am expanding our mental health teams to more schools across Dane County in partnership with […]
What a wonderful year this has been for every kind of horticulture here in Wisconsin. Everything from small gardens to large farming operations enjoyed nearly ideal weather conditions, and the results were amazing. Period Garden Park in the Mansion Hill district had one of the best years since we started it’s restoration nine years ago. […]
This week culminated in yet another Republican bill being passed that consolidates political power, opens the door to corruption, and ensures cronyism will run rampant. In the past 7 days, we’ve seen Republicans exempt themselves from corruption investigations, take us back to the Elections and Ethics Commissions that ignore political corruption, open the flood gates […]
Wisconsin was one of the first states to adopt a merit and experience-based civil service hiring system with the passage of the Civil Service Act of 1905. It was sponsored by my grandfather, Ernest N. Warner, who was in the State Assembly and was the sole author of 1905 Assembly Bill 5 which passed the […]
Capitol Neighborhoods recently hosted a forum on downtown homeless services to provide residents with an opportunity to hear about the outstanding work that many organizations are doing on this issue. We as downtown residents are generally very familiar with and educated about homeless issues and recognize that improving homeless services and facilities in our city […]
The capitol dome defines the skyline of central Madison. But it was not the first dome nor the first capitol building—and there had been another dome at the top of Bascom Hill. Both communicated the dignity of important institutions. The current capitol is the third to stand in Madison. The second statehouse was built from […]
For those who have been reading the Mansion Hill Neighborhood Report year after year, it seems like it is just one fight after another even though one has to admit that the Mansion Hill Historic District and Neighborhood has come through all of this in better shape that it has been for many years. A […]
In late September, I attended the Wisconsin Counties Association Conference. One of the most interesting sessions I attended was about the Lacrosse County justice system. Through collaboration between leaders of the county, city, judicial, law enforcement, and incarceration governmental organizations, as well as education and training of their respective staffs, fewer people are being jailed […]