1. OPEN AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT
WE SUPPORT open, accountable, and understandable government that fosters meaningful civic engagement by the public as well as election systems that are free from the influence and impact of private money. We support:
1. Ensuring all City of Madison decisions are made through an equity lens with an intentional effort to gather input from a diverse set of voices.
PUBLIC INPUT AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION
2. The right of citizens to address the Common Council regarding any matter and the revision of ordinances to institute an open public comment period at the beginning of Council meetings.
3. Expanding opportunities to offer informed and timely public input to all public officials.
4. Efforts to enhance the ability of all residents to fully participate in City boards, committees, and commissions.
5. Adopting an inclusive, transparent participatory budgeting process whereby the residents of Madison directly determine a portion of the City’s annual budgets.
6. Community education, government television, and other community media, which are vital to an open and democratic government and should be publicly supported when necessary.
7. Investing in the necessary equipment, maintenance costs, and staffing to ensure all city meetings are video recorded and easily available to the public.
8. Making budget information more transparent, timely, and understandable for members of the public, including information about agencies funded through the Community Development Division, and allowing more time to consider alder amendments.
ELECTIONS
9. Full public financing of elections.
10. Establishing mandatory filing of campaign finance reports to the City in electronic format.
11. Making all public documents, including supporting materials for meeting agendas, easily accessible in a timely manner.
12. Extending local voting rights to all adult residents of Madison.
13. A resolution calling for state enabling legislation to allow local governments to use alternative electoral processes for local offices including instant runoff or ranked-choice voting.
14. The use of voter-marked paper ballots for all voters.
15. Policies that ensure the right to vote free of intimidation or harassment.
16. Citizen oversight and participation committees during redistricting, with a majority of citizens voting on the makeup and proposals of these committees.
17. Keeping aldermanic districts at approximately 10,000 residents to keep elections affordable, constituent access more manageable, and elected officials more knowledgeable of their districts so they can better serve their constituents.
ETHICS AND LOBBYING
18. Strengthening the City ethics code and its enforcement and providing a strong ethics training program for City employees, including elected officials.
19. Vigorous enforcement of the current City ordinance requiring the annual registration of lobbyists, and a stronger and more straightforward lobbying law that provides for frequent reporting and disclosure by anyone being paid to influence elected officials and staff.