December 21, 2003

GUEST COLUMN

No Madison? Bah-humbug!

By Mayor Dave Cieslewicz

In several columns and editorials this year Tim Kelley and the Wisconsin State Journal editorial board have voiced their opinion that Madison is becoming an "island" by taking positions on a number of high profile issues that run counter to the prevailing conservatism in the country. Kelley underscored that opinion yet again in his column this past Sunday. Here, with apologies to Virginia O’Hanlon and 1897 New York Sun Editor Francis P. Church is my response. Happy holidays!

Dear Mr. Mayor:

My little friends tell me, and I agree entirely with them, that there should be no Madison. They say that instead of looking for innovative ideas in places like San Francisco and New York and Boulder and Burlington – all places with high qualities of life and strong local economies – or (gasp) coming up with new ideas of our own, we should try to be more like Des Moines and Peoria and Fort Wayne. They say that instead of trying to join or become national leaders in issues like affordable housing, the minimum wage and public health, we should wait until everybody else does it. Instead, Madison keeps trying to be different from the rest of the world. Please, Mr. Mayor, tell me there is no Madison!

Tim Kelley

Dear Tim:

Tim, your little friends are wrong. They have been infected with the cynicism of a cynical age. Yes, Tim, there is a Madison! Our little town has a long history of not being content with the national status quo. You might even say that it is fundamental to who we are as a city. Madisonians see war and they question why it is necessary. They see poverty and they want to do something about it. They see injustice and they want to correct it. They see their state and national governments in the hands of the far right and they look to their local government to represent them. And when they see their city government heading in a direction they don’t like they show up at public hearings. Madisonians have the idea that they can fight city hall and somebody will listen. They might not win every time, but almost every point of view gets a hearing.

That’s why it can take so long to get things done in our town. It’s frustrating sometimes, but that’s the price you pay for democracy. It’s not often neat and tidy, but for most of us here in the old Capital City it works pretty well. You see Tim, I don’t think most Madisonians want to be like every other place in America. We believe in tolerance. We’ll tolerate the conservative politics of, oh I don’t know, let’s just say West Bend or Peshtigo, and we expect people from those places to respect our traditions and political culture. You know, back when I was trying to get the legislature to pass Wisconsin’s Smart Growth Law, the ultra-conservatives told me "one size doesn’t fit all." Now, it seems they’ve changed their minds because they think the state should stop cities like Madison from enacting its own minimum wage until the state gets around to increasing it. You and I could be very, very old before that happens.

No Madison! Thank goodness, Madison lives! A thousand years from now, nay ten times ten thousand years from now, it will gladden the hearts of the progressive and the tolerant and the innovative everywhere.

Sincerely, 

Dave Cieslewicz
Mayor of Madison