David Michael Miller
Scott Resnick is challenging incumbent Paul Soglin for mayor in the city of Madison. The election is Tuesday, April 7, 2015.
The way Lynn Lee sees it, the mayoral campaign between incumbent Paul Soglin and challenger Ald. Scott Resnick has "been a sleepy process all around."
Although there are plenty of issues that fire up Madisonians, few seem to be paying attention to this election.
"It hasn't gotten people engaged as it should," says Lee, president of the Marquette Neighborhood Association. "That's really on the people in Madison that they're not into it. But we've also had a series of events that have kept people occupied, the most recent being the shooting" of Tony Robinson by a Madison police officer.
Lee hopes the mayoral forum on Thursday, March 19, will change that. The forum — 6:30-8 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.) at the Barrymore Theatre, 2090 Atwood Ave. — is being sponsored by Isthmus, WORT 89.9 FM, the Homeless Services Consortium of Madison and five neighborhood associations: Tenney Lapham Neighborhood Association, Schenk Atwood Starkweather Yahara Neighborhood Association, Worthington Park Neighborhood Association, Capitol Neighborhoods, and Marquette.
The forum will focus on neighborhood concerns, development, homelessness and affordable housing. The event will be broadcast live on WORT 89.9 FM and webcast on wortfm.org and isthmus.com, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Blankets, warm clothing and nonperishable food items will be collected as part of a food and clothing drive at the event.
The candidates will be asked a mix of questions coming from the sponsors and audience members, who can submit questions on index cards during the event. It's possible the Robinson shooting could become a major focus of the evening.
Molly Stentz, WORT's news and public affairs facilitator, doesn't disagree that the campaign has been sleepy.
"There's been a lot of conversations about problems like racial disparities, the rapid pace of development, homelessness.... These are all things that the mayor has an impact on," she says. "The mayor's race matters. It's just getting people to realize that elections determine city priorities. For so long the business community has realized that, but not necessarily citizens and neighborhood groups."
