Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz blew a gasket over an article in last Saturday's State Journal suggesting that city plans for a fully rebuilt, three-story Central Library might be scaled back. He dashed off a blog post entitled "Library Story Is Wrong," claiming that the article by veteran city hall reporter Dean Mosiman "has no journalistic basis for existing" and that "no new information...justified" suggesting the renovated building might lack a new faade or third floor.
Um, Mr. Mayor?
Mosiman reported (and Cieslewicz did not dispute) that the city has asked its architect to prepare only schematic designs for the faade and third floor, and quoted an architectural firm official as saying, "We don't even know if we need a third floor." Library director Barb Dimick allowed that "anything's possible," and Cieslewicz himself stated, regarding the third floor and new faade, "I can't guarantee it."
Being a newspaper reporter these days is hard enough without being cheap-shotted over what is, by any measure, a legitimate story. If Mayor Dave wants a three-story building with a new faade, he should commit himself to making that happen, not attacking reporters who point out that the city is apparently vacillating on this goal.
