MHCA Area Directors' meeting minutes

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Midvale Heights Community Association Annual Meeting
Tuesday, Oct 25th 2016 – 6:30 p.m. – Sequoya Branch Library

Area Directors present: Ed Rogers, Chuck Kreimendahl, Jenny Chipault, Jim Thoreson, Steve Fitzsimmons, Jonn Lager, Wendy Weber, Gregory Fischer, Tim Trapp, Ron Rotter, Lorie Raihala , Tom Jarvis, Gary Poulson, Denise Lamb, Paul Haskew

1. Call to Order - Ed Rogers
   1. There are 10 meetings of the Midvale Heights Community Association Board each year, with the October meeting being our special annual meeting
2. Guest Speaker - Sarah Day, American Players Theatre (APT)
   1. She calls herself a product of Midvale Heights. She was born in October of 1958 at Madison General Hospital. Her first home was on north Midvale Blvd near Hilldale. The year before she was born, her parents lived in Washington DC but they bought land on Sherwood Rd. In 1961 they built a house designed by an architect who did mid-century modern homes on the west side of Madison. She lived two doors down from Piper Park and had a very idyllic 1960s childhood. She was the only child of older parents. The home on 4806 Sherwood Rd still has wall-to-wall carpeting and wood paneling. People from the neighborhood were a part of the community; the doctor that delivered her lived down the street, as did their dentist and insurance agent. There were two horses next door to her when she was growing up. She knew all the people that lived around her. She had Odana School, which was half a mile away and was a perfect walk, and she had great teachers there. She played Lady MacBeth in Mr. Gilbertson's class at Odana School. There were cows on the way to Odana School, which was only about 5 years old as a building at the time. Another memory that she has is of Piper Park, where she played on the playground equipment and looked forward to the Stagecoach Players coming through. July 4th was always fun because you would decorate your bike and parade around the park and then go to the fireworks at Westmorland Park. Christmas was always a time of real celebration - there was a sign on Holiday Drive that said "Holiday Drive Greetings" and they would deck themselves out because they took their name seriously. They had nice local shopping between Westgate (which had Manchester's, JC Penney's, Rennebaum Drugs, Uncle Paul's Toy Store, etc.) and there was the Midvale Plaza area with the cornerstone being Sequoya Library, but the other favorite was the Baskin-Robbins. From 1986 to 2008 she was living in Spring Green and her home was taken away by the floods. On her Father's 89th birthday, she called him and that day she moved out and her Dad broke his hip. Without a home and working at APT and with her father passing she had her house on Sherwood Rd as a sanctuary. Was able to go back to a home filled with memories of the love of learning, love of each other, and a lot of laughter. Thanks for having me back in Midvale Heights.
      1. Is there a role that you haven't played that you'd like to get into your repertoire?
         1. She always looks forward to whatever is offered. Pretty content with whatever comes her way.
      2. Can you tell us a little about the plans of APT
         1. The stage has disappeared. It has been bulldozed. 6.2 million dollars have been raised. A lot of people were sad but she is excited about it. Will lose a few seats on the side. Will have better accessibility. Will have more flexibility on the stage. A lot of trees have had to go but they will be planting more.
      3. What high school did you attend?
         1. West High. Cherokee for Junior High.
      4. Was Odana Golf Course a golf course when you were growing up?
         1. Yes, she took her wagon there to sell lemonade.
      5. Where was Odana School?
      6. On Tokay right behind Westgate. Epic just left there.
      7. There was a fire at Odana School?
         1. There was an arson fire there and then a decision was made to disperse the kids. There weren't a lot of younger kids coming into the neighborhood at that point so the kids were split between Midvale, Thoreau, and Van Hise.
      8. Our community has changed a lot (how we communicate, technology) - how would your generation live in this town today?
         1. She hopes that every child is wanted and cared for in a loving home. It was a very homogeneous population - usually just one income earner (the father) and most of the men were WWII or Korean vets who could get a college education because of the GI bill and they had professions that their parents wouldn't have dreamed they could have. The investment America made paid off. Wish that more people had an opportunity to get an education. It's how we can invest in ourselves in the best possible way.
      9. What did you do between West High and APT?
         1. Graduated from University of Wisconsin with degree in medieval history and while she was there she worked at Wilson Street East dinner theatre (present Essen Haus) doing 8 shows a week ($115/week) and then worked at Wilson Street East, The Fireside, lived in Chicago and Champagne/Urbana and then in 1986 joined APT.
      10. 4813 and 4805 Tokay are hosting garden walks this weekend at 12 noon on Saturday and they will be giving tours of their premiere landscaping.
      11. Midvale Heights Community Association has put together a little book about the history of our neighborhood for $10. Can be purchased in the library.
3. Neighborhood Report - Ed Rogers
   1. It is a privilege to serve as head of a board that treasures its traditions. E Rogers speaks about what we do to that end. In 6-7 weeks, Santa will be visiting homes as coordinated by the Midvale Heights Community Association (MHCA) board. In July, we had the 75th annual Westmorland Park July 4th parade and, as in decades past, our Association pitched in and helped sponsor games and dunk tanks. We do more than keep the old traditions going. We work hard to sustain the quality of life we have here. The park at the corner of Tokay and Segoe Rd, Slater Park (Slater was charter director of this MHCA), which is known as "Shady Park" by kids in this neighborhood. As we all say, some trees were marked in orange spray-paint this spring; the emerald ash borer is hitting our trees. The city is removing 10,000 trees from public lands. Our neighbors gathered online and reached out to the MHCA and our association got together and decided that we would help them coordinate a donation drive. They raised hundreds of dollars to preserve the canopy in our parks. Our association decided to match them more than dollar-to-dollar to make sure they raised enough money. MHCA also coordinated meetings with Parks and arborists to plan for orderly retreat of trees and then replacement. Already have 3 new trees planted in that park. Speaking of playgrounds, we also have contributed to both Van Hise and Midvale Elementary playgrounds. We also have the city and our alder making sure we have a seat at the table regarding the redevelopment of Westgate Mall. They will be renovating that space and will make sure it's agreeable to the neighborhood. Mentioned traditions that we're keeping going, but we're also starting new traditions. Three years ago, we did a survey to ask how our MHCA can make sure Segoe Park can be properly utilized. We wanted to know what the association could do to make that park better. We had lots of people let us know that they wanted live music and concerts in the park. Since that survey, we've had 15 bands perform at that park and have started a tradition of having music on Friday nights in July in that park. Thanks to members - it's your donations and dues that make all these projects possible. None of this would be possible without generous support, year-in and year-out. If you're not a member, check out MidvaleHeights.org.
4. Board of Directors Election - Ed Rogers
   1. Area 6 director Paul Haskew has decided to retire from the board. This area is roughly Keating Terrace, Ames, Segoe Rd, and Orchard Drive. If there's anyone who lives in that part of the neighborhood, we would love to have you on our board. E Rogers can talk to anyone interested.
      1. Motion and second to nominate incumbents for all areas barring Area 6, which we will leave open for now. Voice vote.
         1. Motion carries.
5. Midvale Heights Neighborhood Watch - Steve Fitzsimmons
   1. Neighborhood Watch has been going for two years. There is a crime digest that he emails out every week to let people know what's going on in the neighborhood. Have monthly meetings with the FBI, police, fire department, personal safety, etc.. Everyone is invited. These meetings are held at Midvale Community Lutheran Church and tend to go for 1.5 hours. We build a community. It's just a bunch of friendly people who gather and share good things about Midvale Heights. We have the largest Neighborhood Watch in the city and the police ask S Fitzsimmons what the key to success is and he says it's the community. Next meeting is Nov 15 and they will be talking about identify theat. On Dec13, they meet with Chief Koval to discuss the police department.
6. Madison Common Council Report - Maurice Cheeks
   1. M Cheeks has been our alder for a little more than 3 years, served on board of estimates.
   2. It occurs to him that several people in the room see his letters in the newsletters but don't know him. In addition to serving on city council, also on foundation for Madison public schools. In his day job, he leads a software company that is local and employs a lot of people in Madison, but does work across the world. Right now working with state to monitor prescription drug use and ensuring that people receiving prescription drugs don't become addicted; big data applications. He has been on city council for 3.5 years. Overview of some of the things going on this year: had first child, a daughter, this year. Regarding Westgate, he is in active dialogue with property owner and developer. No particular progress but good meetings are happening. The neighborhood has a plan for what that shopping center might be. Fear not for now. S Fitzsimmons talked a bit about the neighborhood role in public safety and surely you've read about public safety writ large and specifically as it relates to us on the west side, with regard to an additional police station. For those paying close attention, it feels like déjà vu because we have the same story every year around this time. As you're probably aware. the West District is disproportionately large compared to the city and response times are down and the West District is overburdened. The council has supported the addition of this police station that would separate the West District in half, but unfortunately it has been slowed down because of the mayor but it has been added back into the budget and the council tends to support it and it should be underway next year. He does not see the council wavering in their support for public safety for the residents. Send him, police, S Fitzsimmons letters of support; send letters of opposition to the mayor's office. Poll workers are working in this city and we can say that elections end November 8, not that it's an election day, it's an election season that ends November 8. Wisconsin was one of the earliest states, and Madison is one of the earliest cities, to vote and the nation is watching; He got a call from Hillary Clinton's campaign to ask how it's going in Wisconsin. There are states in the country that are being super active about automatic voter registration, by having a driver's license, and that's something Mark Pocan is working on but it's not something that seems to be getting traction. City of Madison takes the step so that any time a citizen is interacting with the government in a formal capacity, there's a moment there where all of your eligible documents are in front of you and in front of a city official and now it's a policy that these officials are obligated to ask if you are registered to vote. We have a predisposition in the city, first in the nation, to register people to vote as they are going about their business. At the board of estimates meeting last night, he supported a proposal for 5 new Madison Parks worker positions. Trying to move to a place where, rather than doing the really hard work of finding and recruiting and hiring 300 seasonal park workers every year, we can bring people in at the low-skill level and create ongoing positions for them and the city will invest in them to receive additional training. Parks department can lead in recruiting and training up municipal workers.
      1. An audience member is giving up driving and license is no longer active and she wondered how can she vote? She went to the DMV and they gave her a card and she voted tonight.
         1. That's an information problem and they are working on getting the word out. There are complaints filed against the state.
      2. Lived here for 40 years and concerned about Mineral Point Rd - traffic is too fast and she is concerned about kids that cross at Mineral Point and Segoe. Car took out her whole wall and oak tree in the front yard. Watched that traffic for 40 years. The people coming through don't live in our neighborhood. How do you slow that traffic down, I don't know, but seen traffic slow on Odana Rd by making single lane, side parking, and bike lane. Need to do that to Mineral Point Rd. It is not a highway. Shouldn't have right turn on red at that new light.
         1. Another person walks to campus and Hilldale, Westgate, and Mineral Point are the streets she's most afraid to cross and she has had close calls there over and over again. Police might want to do more proactive speed checks.
            1. Another person who lives on Midvale says police department periodically does some speed traps. Watched 12 people get pulled over in 15 minutes.
         2. Curious about 40 mph speed limit. Seems too fast
         3. New Midtown Station is slated for Mineral Point and Westmorland so maybe that will help.
         4. Audience member served on pedestrian/bicycle group. Speed traps don't' affect things long-term. The sort of things that work are things like narrowing the road. But you will likely get more diversion into the neighborhood if the road narrows. Terrace trees can help. Narrowing the road would take a lot of advocacy from people in this room.
         5. Alder Cheeks notes that the near west side is good place to live and the west side has this conflict that we don't have that many streets that allow people to navigate to downtown or to the opposite side of the city. This is a relatively dense area. There are a lot of people who experience this area differently. Drivers are going through the west side to get somewhere and we made a decision to not carve a highway through the middle of the city a generation ago. Our city has grown massively in the last 40 years. These are important consequences of growth. How do we support modes of transportation. Alternative is more brake lights and honking because there will still be the same number of cars using that street, just going slower. Need long-term transportation plans. In many ways, we are a model for other cities because of our bike system and support for public transit.
7. Dane County Board Report - Carousel Bayrd
   1. C Bayrd has been our supervisor for 11 years. She is vice chair of executive committee for board of supervisors, also a Midvale Heights resident on Sherwood.
   2. She is married to a Madison native. She's a New Yorker. Lived here for 15 years. Have two daughters and they walk to Van Hise. Work at YWCA on racial justice, she's a civil rights lawyer. County government oversees 3 things: criminal justice (jails), human services, and environmental (lakes, parks, bike paths). She was vice chair for 3 years and she stepped down and now has working knowledge. We have fabulous leaders in Madison and Dane County. Have a vision and want to move it forward - pushing harder, done being nice, being a New Yorker. Problem with criminal justice system is horrendous racial disparities, one of the worst in the country. In the past two years, we have launched two programs. One pulls youth out of the criminal justice system (age 12-16) for municipal charges (disorderly conduct, retail theft, drug possession, rape, intoxication) - all judges can charge it at the state level and these are judges that charge it on local level and they can do restorative justice instead of going through the court system. This program is harder than going to court - pay fine and have parents mad at you and have criminal record. But with restorative justice, kids are asked what happened, what do you need help with, are you hungry/cold/need different friends, and we get closer to understanding the underlying challenges. Once you enter the criminal justice system, you usually get multiple entries into the criminal justice system, there's a jump from 0 charges to 3. Need to move it through at the county level. Companion program is for 17-25 year olds, it's a pilot program on the South side of Madison and might go city or county wide in this year's budget. It's a bail monitoring program that she's working on. If she's charged with a crime, she can post bail because she owns a house and a car and someone who is charged with a small crime and doesn't own a home or car maybe can't post bail. This doesn't affect safety. Harvard University is part of the conversation about reforming the bail. Doing a two year study of our bail and how we can change it and base it on safety. Also talk of adding intake workers because people are going to bail hearings and the district attorney isn't prepared; trying to speed that up so that people don't sit in jail. Attorney doesn't have resources to be prepared faster, so hope to add 2 staff to help with intake.
      1. Offer of encouragement for continuing to work on homeless issue
         1. Will open a day center. Catholic Charities wants to help with day shelter but don't necessarily want to hand out birth control and condoms. But won't let that get in the way for them to help because they have fabulous staff and they know what they are doing. Just need to determine a way to get those other resources.
      2. E Rogers notes that county executive Joe Parisi will be speaking to our board in November and the public can attend that meeting.
8. Wisconsin State Senate Report - Fred Risser
   1. F Risser has served since 1962 as state senator, before that, he was in state assembly since 1956. He has never lost an election and is the longest-serving legislator in American history
   2. Being in the legislature for a number of years has its interesting moments. He had an experience on State Street (has condo on capitol square) where walking on State Street and woman in her 30s came up to him and said, "Senator, I've been wanting to meeting you and wanted to tell you how pleased she was with the letter you wrote. You wrote me the nicest letter and I put it in the scrapbook right next to the letter you wrote to my mother when I was born." That made him feel old. He was born and raised in this area and it was a farm when he was a kid. Warner was his grandfather (after whom the park is named). He can remember running around in this area and this is a neighborhood that he has seen evolve. He is proud of what city and county have done but not so please with what legislature has done in past 6 years, but he's optimistic. He has seen the pendulum swing back and forth. Legislature has become more partisan - what's happening at national level has trickled down to state level. Almost all the votes are straight party-line votes. Started out as part-time job and he was a lawyer. The majority party goes into secret caucus and then bring it out on the floor without debate. A lot of the Republicans aren't really Republicans, they have changed tremendously over the past 10 years. He has served with 12 different governors during his time - 6 democrats, 6 republicans. First 11 governors had the state of Wisconsin primary in their mind and made this the best state it can be. The current governor came in with the idea of running for President. so his agenda did not have Wisconsin values on education and environment and treating of immigrants. He cut taxes to appeal more broadly. Risser thinks he is still running for President. Consequently, everything he does is not by the values of our society but instead he is using values that sell. Things have been bad before; he was part of the first recall movement for Joel McCarthy. People then did not want to be considered communists if they were against McCarthy. Times have changed, we've gotten rid of that. He's convinced that the pendulum will swing again and the people of this state will recognize that it's time for a change
      1. Are young people interested in politics or government jobs?
         1. Some are, but not enough. Some are asking to serve as aids and pages, but not enough. Glad to see active groups in high schools and campus.
9. Meeting adjourned at 8:21 pm

Notes recorded by J Chipault, secretary