After five years in office, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz gave his 2008 “State of the City” speech Tuesday, declaring the state of the city as good and emphasizing optimism for future improvements.
Cieslewicz said public safety topped the list of city issues, particularly after the unsolved homicides of downtown residents Brittany Zimmermann last week and Joel Marino in January. The mayor assured residents that police are actively investigating both cases and remain dedicated to protecting the public.
“If any police department can solve these murders, it’s this one,” Cieslewicz said.
Despite the homicides, Cieslewicz noted a 14 percent overall decrease in violent crime throughout the city. He applauded the success of the Downtown Safety Initiative in reducing crime on busy weekends such a Badger football Saturdays and the transformation of the Halloween celebration into “Freakfest,” a lucrative and safe event.
Cieslewicz also listed community access to basic services at a fair price as a priority of the city. Noting the record amount of snow that fell on Madison during the winter, Cieslewicz thanked Streets Supervisor Al Schumacher and Schumacher’s staff for their work making streets accessible after the seasonal storms.
“Despite the record snows I believe our city employees and managers performed well, but we can always do better,” Cieslewicz said.
Cieslewicz will continue to explore the possibility of creating a 311-style hotline for residents to access municipal services and information from just one phone number.
Additionally, he urged the creation of a Regional Transit Authority to expand economic growth and improve mass transit throughout Madison.
Cieslewicz also prided Madison as being a leading city in “green efficiency” and environmental initiatives.
“‘Green efficiency’ means doing what’s right for our environment in a way that does what’s right by our taxpayers,” Cieslewicz said.
In an effort to improve future air quality, Cieslewicz said a collaborative study with the city, the state and UW-Madison will determine the effects of coal-fired power plants in Madison and potentially change methods of energy generation.
