Philip Ejercito
President Obama spoke in front of the City County Building the day before his reelection in 2012.
Supv. Al Matano didn’t mean to cause a fuss. In June, he floated a plan to rename the City County Building after President Barack Obama. County Executive Joe Parisi liked the idea. Thousands had gathered on the street outside the building to hear Obama give a campaign speech in 2012. So a press conference was held on June 15 to announce the plan. What could go wrong?
Just about everything, it turns out.
While attempting to honor an African American, the proposal offended many in the black community, in part because the building contains an outdated, maximum-security jail on the top two floors. The local chapter of the NAACP called the building symbolic of “extreme racial disparities.” Ald. Maurice Cheeks wrote an article for madison365.org listing 44 “better ideas.” Supv. Sheila Stubbs called the City County Building “a terrible building,” unworthy of the former president.
Matano’s proposal hit the trash bin a month after it was introduced.
“I just thought it’d be nice to honor Obama when the current president is going off the deep end. It seemed like a logical thing to do, maybe even a little cheesy,” Matano says. “I viewed it as a mom and apple pie kind of resolution. I didn’t think it would be the most controversial thing I’ve ever done.”
Yet, the reaction shouldn’t have been a surprise. Some local officials had already given it the cold shoulder.
The night before the June news conference, Matano invited elected officials from Progressive Dane via email to attend the event. Alds. Rebecca Kemble, Marsha Rummel and Ledell Zellers all opposed naming the City County Building after Obama.
“If we name buildings at all, I feel that we should name them for people from our community who have had a positive impact,” Kemble said in responding to the invite. She suggested the building be named for former affirmative action officer Eugene Parks. Rummel proposed naming the plaza in between the City County Building and the Madison Municipal Building for Obama, the location where the president delivered his 2012 speech.
Matano also emailed his colleagues on the county board the night before the press conference. But that was too little too late for some, including the lone African American supervisor, Sheila Stubbs.
Stubbs was particularly incensed that the proposal was announced by four white dudes — Parisi and Matano, alongside Supvs. Tim Kiefer and John Hendricks — on the steps of the City County Building.
“You have four white men standing up saying we should rename this building,” Stubbs says. “What about voices of women? What about voices of color? No one thought that was a good idea? I was shocked and I was hurt. Really, really hurt. In my 11 years on the county board I’ve never felt so shut out.
“They’re talking about honoring the first African American president and they don’t even bother to pick up the phone and call me? I’m their only African American colleague and they didn’t think it was important to ask me my opinion?” Stubbs adds. “Had this process been inclusive — to more than just me by the way — it wouldn’t have been such a disaster.”
Ald. David Ahrens tells Isthmus it was “obviously a political misstep” to not first contact Stubbs and other black leaders about the idea.
“I just don’t think the president’s identity as a black man was even considered,” Ahrens says. “The basis of memorializing him wasn’t because of his race. It’s because he was a good president...I think it was just, ‘Hey this is a great idea’ and they hurried through it.”
The idea did have early support of Madison Ald. Samba Baldeh, an African American man, but he wasn’t at the press conference.
Matano doesn’t see this proposal as deviating from the routine. “You introduce something. Tell people about it to gather support. Then the legislative process starts,” Matano says. “I saw this as the beginning of the discussion. I blasted out an email to all county supervisors the night before the press conference. Clearly it wasn’t a done deal — the proposal is dead.”
Even though Parisi announced the proposal through his office, he has since rejected it and distanced himself from it. In an email, his spokesperson says “It wasn’t our event — Supv. Al Matano ran point on it.”
Obama will likely get something named after him in Dane County. Stubbs is now spearheading an effort to generate ideas from the public about what should be named after the 44th president, conducting an online survey for suggestions. A park, highway and the Dane County Regional Airport, which would be the first airport to be named for Obama, are all options. Stubbs hopes a decision is made by the end of the year.
Matano is baffled by the backlash. “I just thought it was a cute concept. I hope something good comes out of it.”
But he no longer has an opinion about how to honor Obama. “One of my favorite phrases is, ‘Lead, follow or get out of the way,’” Matano says. “I’m taking the ‘Get out of the way’ approach.”
