Executive Committee punts ordinance change on alder appointments to March 11 for more study

The Madison Common Council Executive Committee debated an ordinance amendment tied to staggered alder terms and ultimately voted to re-refer the matter to the Common Council Committee (CCC) for further work and discussion on March 11.

The ordinance under consideration would change terms for alder appointments to boards, commissions and committees (BCCs) in response to newly staggered council election cycles. Mayor-sponsored language would generally make alder BCC appointments run for one year or, if made midterm, expire the following April; an alternate proposed by Alder Tishler would maintain committee appointments that run to the end of each alder's elected term.

Attorney Haas summarized the two approaches: the mayor's version would require annual appointment cycles, which could allow more rotation among alders but impose a heavier annual workload on the mayor's office; the Tishler alternate aims to preserve continuity by letting committee service expire with the alder's term and by requiring that committees with more than one alder include an odd-numbered district and an even-numbered district alder.

Tishler, the sponsor of the alternate, said the change would give newly elected alders more stability. “When we commit to serving our constituents ... for a 2 year term, we rearrange our lives to best serve the public,” she said, arguing that alders should not have to worry about committee assignments changing midterm. The alternate also includes a mechanism to allow the full council to waive the odd/even requirement by a two-thirds vote if no alder from the required numbering is available.

Opponents argued the alternate would constrain the mayor's ability to make appointments and complicate scheduling. Vice President Duncan said the mayor should retain flexibility to appoint each year and that a requirement for annual reappointments would not in practice prevent the same alder from being reappointed. Alder Ugari questioned the administrative burden on the mayor's staff, saying the staggered terms will already increase the permutations the mayor must consider when matching alders to committees.

Several committee members asked for more information from the mayor's office about how staff currently manages BCC appointments and for examples from other municipalities that use staggered terms. The committee asked staff to return with that information.

On motions and formal action, the committee first took up a motion to place Alder Tishler's alternate “on file without prejudice.” That motion passed by recorded roll call. Later, the committee voted to recommend that the council re-refer the ordinance and related alternate to the Common Council Committee for further work on March 11; that referral passed by unanimous recorded consent.

Next steps identified by the committee included requesting input from the mayor's staff about the practical workload of annual appointments and asking staff to research how other similarly sized cities handle BCC appointments when council terms are staggered. The committee will take up the ordinance again after the additional information is returned.