Skidmore survives
Nikki Conklin finished ahead of veteran Ald. Paul Skidmore in the Feb. 16 primary.
Embattled Ald. Paul Skidmore survived his first challenge since 2013, but just barely, coming in second in the Feb. 16 primary to first-time candidate Nikki Conklin, receiving 651 votes to Conklinâs 701. Nino Amato, a former alder who has been active in city and state politics for 40 years, finished a close third with 626 votes. Democratic Party of Wisconsin operative and legislative aide Doug Hyant came in fourth with 301 votes.
âDistrict 9 voters have shown that we have a shared vision for a community focused on equity and justice, quality affordable housing, and safety for all,â Conklin, a communications consultant, tells
Give me a party
SaveMadison billboards
This fall billboards popped up around Madison making a simple case. Shootings are up 78 percent in the city and yet some members of the Madison Common Council want to defund the police.Â
Both assertions are essentially true. To be clear, shots fired incidents are up by almost 80 percent, not the number of people hit by gunfire. But it seems to me to be in bounds to call these âshootings.â The dictionary definition of shooting is âthe action or practice of shooting with a gun.âÂ
And itâs also true that some Madison alders, most members of the local party Progressive Dane, support some form of âdefundingâ the police. Whether or not they actually used the word, theyâve supported policies that can be fairly characterized as critical of the police department or shifting resources away from it. The word âdefundâ has been interpreted to mean anything from literally shutting down police departm
Eric Hovde behind âSave Madisonâ billboards
Progressive Dane alders targeted for stance on police funding
Eric Hovde owns several commercial and residential properties in downtown Madison.
Former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde says he saw âcrime escalatingâ in Madison and decided to do something about it. Just not publicly.
This summer the downtown Madison property owner quietly spearheaded an effort, dubbed âSave Madison,â aimed at alders who, he claims, want to âdefund the police.âÂ
âIn the last few years, public safety has really declined. Particularly in this last year, rather meaningfully so,â Hovde tells
Isthmus. âThe council has done nothing but attack the police. I mean, how many oversight boards do we need? And at the same time this is happening, weâve had an 80 percent increase in shootings.â (This is a reference to police data on incidents of âshots fired,â not individuals who