Mayor Paul Soglin announced July 17 that he will retire when his term expires in April. That was the right thing to do for the city. It’s time to move on to new leadership and a fresh perspective. And Madison voters should get the widest possible choice of candidates.
Even before his announcement, three candidates had stepped up. Now that it’s going to be an open seat, I’d be disappointed if there weren’t at least 10 candidates in a February primary, representing a wide variety of experiences. I’ve talked to three people, not yet in the race, who have been thinking about it. I won’t violate their confidence by revealing their names here, but I hope they all run. And then I hope there’s a bunch more.
One thing the three announced candidates share is that they’ve all served on the Common Council. That cuts both ways. Obviously, Council members have an advantage in institutional knowledge. They know how the place works. But the downside is that Council members also tend to inculcate the culture of city government. Sometimes it’s good to have someone from the outside who can see things from a fresh perspective. When that is combined with someone who also has the courage to make positive changes, it can be a very good thing. So, let’s have some people in the race who have not been close to Madison city government.
Then there’s professional experience. Madison has a lot of nonprofits and a lot of nonprofit directors. That’s not bad experience for a mayor. Nonprofits are a lot more similar to government than for-profit businesses are. In fact, success in business can be a handicap in government. When private business leaders make a decision, people around them tend to ask if they’d like fries with that order. When mayors make a decision, people around them tend to ask why. And they keep asking why throughout the process. The private-sector model is decision and implementation. The public-sector model is decision, persuasion, amendment, persuasion, more amendment, implementation, persuasion of the implementers, maybe more amendment, etc.
One of the reasons Donald Trump is such an awful president, aside from incompetence and moral bankruptcy, is that his entire life has been about deciding what he wants for himself and then ordering it done. Government doesn’t work that way.
Nonetheless, the right kind of private-sector experience could be valuable. The problem with Trump is that for the size of his holdings, the decision-making process is very tightly controlled and the players are mostly close family members. But someone who comes from a more complex corporate environment might have just the right skill set to be mayor. Let’s hope there are some private-sector folks in the mix.
I am not a big fan of identity politics, but it is at the very center of what most liberals — and therefore Madison voters — believe in these days. The three announced candidates are two women (one lesbian) and a black man. To the extent that being a woman or a racial minority matters to the job of mayor, again, more diversity of choice for voters is a good thing. So, let’s add even more people with diverse backgrounds to the field.
And then there’s ideological leanings. The job of mayor is the least ideological of elected jobs. There isn’t much that’s liberal or conservative about getting the streets fixed, the snow plowed and the trash picked up. Still, for me, the essence of being a liberal is to be open to different ideas and perspectives — ironically, even conservative ones. So, I would like to see at least one strong, articulate classic conservative in the race. Someone who would make a principled and impassioned case for smaller government, less regulation and more personal freedom. And while that may seem like a suicide mission in a crowded primary, a strong, likable, NeverTrump conservative might just make it to the general election.
Madison is a place where 230,000 people believe they can do a better job than the current mayor, and about half of them are probably right. Putting 115,000 people on a ballot would make for an awfully long ballot. But 10 or 12 names would not be too much to choose from. When it comes to picking a new leader for a new beginning for our city, we can’t have too many choices.
Dave Cieslewicz is the former mayor of Madison. He blogs as Citizen Dave at isthmus.com.
