n the latest broadcast of The Valley Labor Report, Jacob Morrison and Adam Keller had another chance to sit down with Madison City Council watcher Tryston Gilbert. Gilbert has become a regular guest on the show as TVLR’s own “reporter” of sorts, keeping us apprised of all of the “exciting things” taking place at the city council.
From Gilbert’s report we have learned that, amidst controversy and public clashes, the city council is preparing to transition Madison to a Council-Manager form of government.
“Just as a reminder: Madison is [currently] a Council-Mayor form of government,” Gilbert said in his on-air report. “This separates the council and the mayor into a Legislative and Executive body — the council passes ordinances… makes all the laws… approves budgets, and so on; while the mayor is the chief executive, and he hires the department chiefs, runs the day-to-day operations of the city, in addition to all the other things a mayor is expected to do, such as representing the city at public events, being an advocate to our neighbors, and so on.”
Madison Forward, an open group made up of city residents, is putting forth the petition to vote on the transition. On their website, they state the following:
“Madison Forward is a group of residents that support our rapidly growing City to move from a Council-Mayor government structure to a Council-Manager structure. We believe citizens should have the opportunity to vote either for or against this change in governance, and are collecting petition signatures to do so.”
In their Frequently Asked Questions, Madison Forward explains that, for the city, a Council-Manager form of government would mean that “[t]he Mayor becomes President of the City Council and a voting member; 7 Council districts will be redrawn to 6 council districts; a City Manager will be appointed by both Mayor and City Council; [and] [t]hat City Manager will run day-to-day operations of the city instead of the Mayor.”
Gilbert explained that there is a lot of valid criticism of the motion, but expressed sympathy for both sides of the argument. “The proponents are saying that having a City Manager would free the Mayor up to focus on strategic vision and strategic planning,” he said on last Saturday’s broadcast, going on to say that there is some good evidence that this form of government helps keep governmental corruption down, since there are more firewalls, so to speak.
To hear Tryston Gilbert’s full report, as well as selected footage from the related Madison City Council meetings, watch the full clip on YouTube: