A CITY THAT'S LOST ITS WAY

When a mother with a baby in her arms must plead with city officials
to keep the apartment she has paid to rent, something is wrong in Madison.

When a mother must beg the city not to uproot her daughter from the
school she has attended for three years, something is wrong in Madison.

When a mother who works two jobs to support her eight-year-old
daughter has to explain to the City Council that she is not a drug
dealer, something is wrong in Madison.

Something is terribly wrong in Madison.

The city's decision to evict six women and 11 children from an alleged
"drug house'' on Lake Point Drive (the former Simpson Street) led to a
poignant and disturbing City Council meeting Tuesday night.

The women, who have not been charged with crimes, are being forced
from their apartments, under a court order to clear what the city
alleges is a "drug house.'' While there may indeed have been drug
dealing at some apartments in the building, there is no evidence that
these women or their young children were selling dope.

Yet, six families have been given until Sept. 30 to vacate the
premises.

Tuesday night, the women and children camebefore the council to ask a
logical question: Why?

Mayor Sue Bauman did not answer.

City Attorney Eunice Gibson did not answer.

The council -- with the notable exceptions of Jose Sentmanat, Matt
Sloan, Barbara Vedder and a handful of others -- did not even try to
answer.

Why the silent treatment?

A polite characterization would be that city officials were ashamed of
having handled the situation in such an arbitrary and damaging manner.

A more sinister characterization would be that city officials were
embarrassed at having been caught in what appears to be an effort to
vacate the building to make it attractive to a prospective buyer --
effectively putting the city in the position of rendering tenants
homeless to aid a developer.

But the best explanation for the failure of Bauman, Gibson and other
officials to respond to honest pleas for attention and aid from these
Madison residents is far more sinister: These officials, for all their
protestations of concern, just weren't prepared to show respect to
working mothers from a low-income neighborhood.

If wealthy women from upscale neighborhoods had showed up to raise
concerns about a pressing issue, you can bet that the mayor, the city
attorney and the "leaders'' of the council would have fallen over
themselves to make amends.

But these were working moms. They were greeted with blank stares and
buzzers telling them their time was up.

The whole shameful display was well explained by former mayoral
candidate Gene Parks.

Parks recalled the recent case of developer Kenton Peters, who built
an extra floor onto his downtown ritzy condominium project in the
downtown Union Transfer Building. Kenton's violation of design rules
and a possible abuse of tax incremental financing procedures could
bring a financial penalty. Yet, he has not been ordered to vacate the
premises.

So, while Peters gets to keep his property, the working moms of Lake
Point Drive are being put out of their homes.

What's the difference between a big developer and a working
mom?

Here's a hint: The working mothers of Madison's south side cannot
afford to write hefty campaign contribution checks or to invite
politicians to swank parties. All they can do is expect fair treatment
from the city in which they pay taxes, work hard and seek to raise
good kids.

That is something working mothers once could expect in Madison.
Indeed, the most common phrase uttered by city hall watchers last
night was: "This wouldn't have happened under Paul Soglin.''

As the mothers of Lake Point Drive rallied outside the Municipal
Building, a picture of the former mayor stared down from an upstairs
window.

It was watching over a scene that never would have occurred in the
Soglin years -- in the days before Madison lost its way.