A Madison alder proposed Monday to make an amendment in the 2008 city budget to cut funding for the $100,000 Downtown Safety Plan.
Among the many amendments suggested at a meeting to the 2008 city budget, City Council President Mike Verveer said Ald. Zach Brandon, District 7, proposed to cancel the funding of the $100,000 Downtown Safety Plan. His reasons include the Madison Police Department will add 30 new officers and a large percentage of the budget goes to police already. The money would not disappear but would ideally provide help elsewhere in the city.
The thing that he was going after was not the surveillance equipment or the radios,"" said Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, who spoke against the removal of the plan. ""He was only going after the [police] overtime, which is still not OK with us.""
Brandon did not return calls for a response.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and the Madison Police Department created the Downtown Safety Plan last year and it has been in use since February. The plan uses $100,000 in city funds for the improvement of safety in the campus and downtown area.
Police took $70,000 of the allotted money and put it toward the addition of police officers' overtime and the rest of the funds to wireless surveillance in areas with previous crime issues.
""The rationale he gave me is the fact that we're going to be getting 30 new cops, so why do we need the money in overtime?"" Judge said. ""The downtown area, particularly protecting the student population, is important enough to warrant the $100,000 in overtime funding.
""If we can get more eyes and ears on the streets, we can help police with violent crime and also the new neighborhood watch programs.""
Currently Madison's proposed 2008 budget totals more than $224 million. The MPD is slated to receive about $53 million of that.
Members of the community also voiced their opinions at the meeting. Some thought that without the plan, more money would have to be spent on student organizations, the court system and jail. Removing the safety initiative after only one year would be unwise, another community member said.
Still, other members of the community who spoke in favor of the amendment said they instead wanted to put the money into preventative plans. They offered ideas for programs in areas such as education, child care, homeless shelters and job skill programs.
