CIESLEWICZ, SOGLIN SPAR AT LOCAL FORUM

They Disagree On City Minimum Wage

Pot, Buses, Wages Split Candidates

A speed round of questions with requested "yes" and "no" answers, included
in a mayoral forum hosted by Progressive Dane, touched on some issues
rarely visited thus far in the race for Madison mayor.

At the Wednesday night forum at Bolz Auditorium on South Brooks Street,
attended by a couple hundred people, candidate Dave Cieslewicz said he
supported the legalization of marijuana, local instant runoff voting and a
municipal minimum wage of $8.

Candidate Paul Soglin expressed support for the legalization of medical
marijuana only, while opposing a citywide minimum wage and local instant
runoff voting.

The candidates also disagreed on whether they would support residency
requirements for Madison employees (Cieslewicz, no; Soglin, yes) and the
removal of buses from State Street (Cieslewicz, yes; Soglin, no).
Cieslewicz said he would be open to using Madison Hours, a local currency,
for the partial payment of parking tickets, while Soglin said he would not.

Both candidates supported a referendum for the Madison Metropolitan School
District, more off-leash parks for dogs and domestic partnership benefits
for city employees.

Both opposed having an elected city attorney.

When asked whether developers and Realtors have too much influence in
county and city government, Cieslewicz said "yes," but Soglin said he could
not answer the question.

Cieslewicz said he could not answer in a single word whether he supported a
proposed cogeneration power plant on the UW-Madison campus. Quipped Soglin,
who has accused Cieslewicz of flip-flopping on the issue: "You're finally
seeing it my way."

In response to a question from the audience, Soglin and Cieslewicz both
criticized the U.S. Patriot Act.

"If we have to delete library records on a daily basis, we will do that,"
Soglin said.

He said it was acceptable for one unit of government to challenge another
over disagreements about public policy.

Soglin also said earlier that the federal government creates a type of
segregation through rules governing Social Security cards. He said that an
18-year-old young adult who came to the United States as a two-year-old
could not go to college without a Social Security card.

"That is a form of discrimination," Soglin said. He said the mayor should
work with employers to encourage diversity. "That means hiring a few people
without Social Security cards," he said.

As in other forums, the candidates disagreed on whether a proposed
inclusionary zoning ordinance should require developers to put affordable
housing units in all new projects.

Cieslewicz said he supported a mandatory ordinance, while Soglin said he
refused to accept the notion that municipalities throughout Dane County
would not embrace the idea of inclusionary zoning and support a regional
ordinance.

Both candidates supported the public financing of campaigns, which
Cieslewicz said was "one way to ensure we take back our government."

When asked to name examples of good and bad developments in Madison,
Cieslewicz praised the new Willy Street Coop, which moved across Williamson
Street from its former quarters, and criticized East Towne and West Towne
malls, and Prairie Town Center.

Soglin gave kudos to the Sprecher neighborhood, and panned Hawks Landing.

Neither Progressive Dane, nor Bert Zipperer, who was backed by the party
before losing in the February primary, is endorsing either of the two
remaining candidates.