Earlier this year the Madison Common Council adopted a resolution to create a Task Force on the Structure of City Government to review our current structure and to study other models and structures of local governments that could improve resident engagement with city services and governance processes.
The last time the city convened a formal committee to examine and report on governance issues was back in the 1980s when the population of Madison was much smaller. Additionally, the impending challenges of legislative redistricting based on the upcoming 2020 census and the annexation of the Town of Madison in 2022 provide further impetus for this study.
The task force will be comprised of four alders and seven residents appointed by the mayor and the council president. As much as practicable, the members will represent the city based on geographic interests, and reflect the ethnic and racial makeup of the population of the city as well as varying business, social and economic viewpoints.
Among other things, the task force will consider general questions about how to optimize resident participation in governance, accountability of elected officials, and best practices from other cities with population size and other similarities to Madison. It will also examine the size and type of representation of the common council (e.g., at-large vs. district representatives), the division of powers between the mayor and the common council, and a review of the city committee system.
Within the past three years the city has made a commitment to and has invested resources in the Racial Equity and Social Justice Initiative (RESJI), which aims to eliminate racial and social inequities in municipal government. The task force will work with the RESJI core team to design and implement an innovative public input process to learn about residents’ perceptions of and experiences with governance in Madison, and their opinions about different structural options.
If you are interested in serving on this task force, contact the mayor’s office, 266-4611, or Council President Marsha Rummel, 266-4071.