Heidi Wegleitner: County Board District 2 

1. What top three priorities will you work on if elected?

1. Housing justice. We have an opportunity, with the new office of housing access and affordability, to (a) expand the county's role in affordable housing creation, (b) create a plan to close the affordable housing gap in Dane County with our municipal and non-profit developer partners, and (c) formalize contracting policies that affirmatively further fair housing, expand tenant protections, and facilitate sustainable construction and rehabilitation practices. As a tenants' rights attorney who has practiced housing law in Dane County for 14 years, I am more committed than ever to: (a) empowering tenants and tenants organizations, (b) ending the criminalization of homelessness, and (c) advancing housing as a human right in Dane County. Instead of building a new jail, we should be building 350 permanent supportive housing units, which are true Housing First units, designed to reduce the racial disparities in our Dane County jail and provide community based housing.

2. Improving transparency and accountability and making county government processes more accessible to people most impacted by county government, particularly low income people, people of color, people with disabilities, people who are incarcerated, and families impacted by child welfare and juvenile justice systems. In the next three months, in particular, I will be advocating for amendments to chapter 7 to provide a public right to comment at every county board and committee meeting, reduce the number of meetings held at inaccessible times and in inaccessible locations, and increase public access through video and audio recording of county committee meetings.

3. Opposing F35 siting at Truax Air National Guard Base, monitoring and cleaning up PFAS and other contamination from military operations at Dane County Regional Airport, and demanding compensation from the federal government for the contamination to our land and water. The reality is that we can't trust the federal government and our Senators to protect us from the threat F35s pose to our community. The planes are crash-prone, coated in poison, part of the nuclear triad, and deafening. Elected officials should be doing everything we can to sound the alarm on the disastrous F35 program and the threat they pose to our community, particularly the people most impacted by flights, which the draft environmental impact statement put out by the Air Force recognizes as disproportionately low income people and people of color. The fact that we have elected representatives who support this project despite its significant discriminatory impact and threat to our environment disgusts me. The fact that politicians put their political careers ahead of the health, safety, and homes of their constituents is exactly what is wrong with the corrupting influence of corporate money on our political system in this country and in Dane County.

2. What strategies would you support to advance transportation equity and eliminate transportation barriers? What should the county be spending its wheel tax money on?

When Progressive Dane supervisors advocated for a wheel tax, it was so general purpose revenue dollars that were being spent on transportation could be redirected to human services programs, which were continuing to be squeezed. When the County Executive put the wheel tax in his budget proposal, it was to fill a short term budget hole. At the time, I pursued a budget amendment to provide a $28 grant to all food share eligible Dane County residents (those below 200% of the federal poverty level) to offset the wheel tax for low income persons in Dane County. It was unsuccessful because the cost of the operating amendment was too high and the majority of county supervisors had other priorities for budget amendments. The revenue generated by the wheel tax should be used to expand transit equity and further our objectives to reduce carbon in response to the climate crisis.

We need to be working with the City of Madison and other municipalities to create regional transit, despite being prohibited by the terrible state law which currently prevents us from creating a regional transit authority. We should stop supporting road expansion and parking ramps which enable single occupant auto commuters, and pivot to expansion of ride-sharing and public transit. The county should work with the City and homeless services providers to fund fare-free transit for unhoused persons and study fare-free transit implementation across the board. Bus rapid transit planning and implementation should be informed with a racial equity and social justice lens and we must preserve and expand low income housing close to BRT routes.

3. Do you think there are options not being considered that should be pursued to reduce the jail population by diverting people from jail, reducing length of jail stays, and advancing criminal justice reform recommendations provided by the 2014 Res 556 work groups?

Yes, I support adoption of 2019 Res 67, which I authored to be community, alternative plan to the massive jail project.  It emphasizes community building, particularly emphasizing the need for supportive housing and health care.   Here is the most recent version, which is stalled in committee.  These are my key priorities.  We should commit to creating 350 permanent supportive housing units for unhoused persons who have been frequently incarcerated in Dane County jail within 5 years.  They should be true Housing First units with enforceable Housing First contract provisions.  We need to create 24 hour crisis beds as recommended in the Behavioral Health Needs Assessment.  We should pursue mental health ambulances, instead of having police respond to people experiencing behavioral health crises.

 4. Which of the Lake Levels Task Force Recommendations should be prioritized? Do you support petitioning the DNR to further lower the lake levels?

Yes, I support petitioning the DNR to further lower the lake levels and have been advocating for the same since the August 2018 flood made this a dominant concern for District 2 residents.  I support the task force recommendations and recognize the importance of sediment removal and aquatic plant harvesting for increasing flow, but I think it is really important that we do more to be more naturally flood resilient.  Therefore, I was in strong support for funding increases to purchase flood prone areas for wetland restoration as championed by Sup. Chawla.  I also think we need to prioritize the following recommendations (which have some overlap and redundancies, but are copied straight from the recommendations).

 Work with County Board designee or County Lobbyist and WCA to provide flooding at-risk municipalities an exemption to current law that restricts implementation of stormwater retention practices in excess of State standards.

-Promote programs for landowners to protect property and install practices (e.g. wetland reserve program).

-Evaluate the feasibility of implementing stormwater practices on acquired properties. 

 - Implementation of stringent policy regarding land use planning and future development to prevent increased runoff rate and runoff volume in the watershed. 

-Model and evaluate infiltration practices (wetlands, permeable pavement, rain barrels, rain gardens, etc.) to reduce runoff in the watershed.

- Develop a watershed-wide approach with purchase and restoration of new and historic wetlands; 

-Protection of agricultural lands and buffer strips along creeks and rivers; 

-Increased infiltration in urban areas with rain gardens, green rooftops, grassy swales; purchase in fee or easement areas suited for underground infiltration basins.

 -Pursue the restoration of wetlands throughout the Yahara River sub-watersheds but especially in the Upper Mendota watershed. 

- Continue to study and implement practices designed to restore historic wetlands in Cherokee Marsh

 5. What role do you think the County has in monitoring and remediating PFAS contamination in urban and rural areas?

PFAS is a major threat to public health and our water throughout Dane County.  I am grateful that the state is prioritizing this issue.  As a responsible party identified by the DNR for PFAS contamination in Starkweather Creek, Dane County have an obvious and legally mandated role to play in monitoring and remediating PFAS contamination there.  I have communicated my support for funding to monitor and remediate to DCRA Director Jones and Corporation Counsel.  i also support using all leverage we have as the airport land owner to make the National Guard pay for monitoring and clean up caused by the PFAS in the fire fighting foam.  

I think the County EANR Committee should be engaging the public on this issue, including those threatened by PFAS contamination in rural areas.  I am concerned by PFAS contamination by the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District through the spreading of sludge on farm fields in Dane County.   MMSD needs to be responsive to DNR requests for testing and we need to protect our rural residents from this contamination.

6. What other ideas do you have for raising revenues or reducing spending? Would you support going to referendum to raise the levy? If yes, what conditions do you place on your support, if any?

We should eliminate the drug and gang task forces that target and harm communities of color and are a vestige of a racist and failed war on drugs.  We should reduce our spending on incarceration so we can increase our spending on repairing the harm of incarceration and eliminating racial disparities caused by centuries of institutional racism.

I think we should look at going to referendum to raise the levy, if needed, to tackle one or more of the huge challenges we face, including the climate crisis, the affordable housing crisis, and the lack of regional transit.   If we:  (1) identify a clear objective that has broad appeal, and (2) build a diverse coalition of support, we will get the approval of the voters to raise taxes to meet these historic challenges.

7. Evaluate the issue of transparency in the way the County Board currently operates. What problem areas do you believe need to be addressed and how will you work to address them? Do you think the county board is responsive to public input and values the role of resident and non-standing committees?

The lack of transparency in County government is embarrassing and shameful and it really makes it hard for the public to understand how to engage and have impact. The upcoming turnover of leadership and transition of county supervisors presents an exciting opportunity to change this top-down culture. It is said that the work of the county board happens in committee, which is why I have long been advocating for video recording of all standing committee meetings. I oppose having private chairs' meetings as has been the practice of the current chair. I understand the desire of leadership to have those meetings, but they should be public and noticed in compliance with open meetings laws. This is an obvious function for the Executive Committee, which could meet twice per month and be composed of the standing committee chairs.

I will work with the ProDane policy committee and ProDane County Supervisors to pursue County Board rule changes (amendments to Ch. 7 D.C. Ords.) at the organizational meeting of the County Board to implement ProDane priorities for open government.  I will also use any political capital I have to push for a change in board culture with aspiring County Board leaders.

8. Have you carefully read the Progressive Dane County Platform? Do you have any questions or concerns about the platform? Are there issues that we should add or that you particularly want to work on?

Yes, I am a long time member, and have been de facto chair, of the policy committee and have been involved in the County platform updates for the last 8 years. The platform is best when our electeds and members are engaging with it and working on the issues.  There are so many areas I'd like to work on, but because of my other professional and personal demands, I'm forced to prioritize.  See answers to other questions herein for my priorities.

9. The County has made investments in housing and homelessness yet we still have some of the worst racial disparities in housing and homelessness. What would you do to address this?

1. Create a plan to develop 350 permanent supportive housing units in the next 5 years, true Housing First units, for the 350 people who have been most frequently incarcerated in Dane County jail.  The Free the 350 Campaign identified 350 as the number of African-Americans over-represented in the Dane County jail population because of the racial disparities in incarceration in Dane County. 

2. Continue to improve our affordable housing funding contracting process to ensure Dane County funded projects are required to use tenant selection criteria that does not have a discriminatory impact in tenant selection.  Ensure contracts are monitored by new contract compliance staff.  Ensure tenants have the resources, services, and access to enforce the protections provided under contracts.  In the 2019 RFP, I worked hard and overcame objections of developers and property managers to include scoring incentives to advance fair housing objectives, prioritize access for homeless persons, and include tenant protection addenda.  Projects received 10 points for committing to the criteria I authored and pasted below.  Some projects did not need these 10 points to get funded and chose not to make this commitment, however, so we should keep evaluating the point structure and contracting process to advance fair housing goals.

The screening process applied to the project must not deny applicants based on the following:

a. Inability to meet a minimum income requirement if the applicant can demonstrate the ability to comply with the rent obligation based on a rental history of paying at an equivalent rent to income ratio for 12 months;

b. Lack of housing history;

c. Credit score;

d. Information on credit report that is disputed, in repayment, or unrelated to a past housing or utility (gas, electric, and water only) obligations.

e. Inability to meet financial obligations other than housing and utilities necessary for housing (gas, electric, water).

f. Owing money to a prior landlord or negative rent payment history if the tenant’s housing and utility costs were more than 50% of their monthly income.

g. Owing money to a prior landlord or negative rent or utility payment history if applicant does one of the following: (1) establishes a regular record of repayment of the obligation;  2) signs up for automatic payment of rent to the housing provider; or (3) obtains a representative payee.

h. Wisconsin Circuit Court Access records;

i. Criminal activity, except: (i) violent criminal activity within the last year resulting in a criminal conviction, and (ii) if the program or project is federally assisted, criminal activity for which federal law currently requires denial.  (Violent criminal activity is defined in 24 C.F.R § 5.100 and means any criminal activity that has as one of its elements the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force substantial enough to cause, or be reasonably likely to cause, serious bodily injury or property damage.)

j. Membership in a class protected by Dane County fair housing ordinances and non-discrimination ordinances in the municipality where the project is located.

3. Support a Mapping Prejudice Project for Dane County so that the racial restrictive covenants in land records in Dane County are available for all to see online and the community can be better informed and motivated to repair the harm caused by white supremacist property laws and practices that have ongoing adverse impact on housing choice.

10.  Why are you interested in the Progressive Dane endorsement? What role do you see yourself playing in Progressive Dane and do you agree with the accountability expectations document?

Progressive Dane is *the* political party that dedicates itself to working on local policy. That's really what distinguishes ProDane.  I will continue to be involved with the three Progressive Dane committees I am on, but would also be interested in making room for new members and leaders so I can dedicate more time to working with other Progressive Dane elected officials to write legislation to implement the ProDane county platform.