Getting Madison out of its current economic slump is top priority for the city in 2009, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said in his annual ""State of the City"" speech at a Downtown Madison Rotary Meeting Wednesday.
Cieslewicz noted several ""sobering"" statistics reflective of Madison's current economic situation. With an unemployment rate of 5.4 percent—the highest since 1990—and a 50 percent decrease in city revenues this year compared to last year, Madison is another community facing the challenges of the national economic crisis.
""We are in the deepest economic recession probably since the Great Depression,"" the mayor said.
However, the news is not all bad, Cieslewicz said, pointing out CNN's Money Magazine's recent ranking of the best U.S. cities for finding employment that put Madison in the number two spot for cities with a population of 200,000 or more. Cieslewicz also unveiled his plan to boost the economy based on a transformative recovery and inspiration from President Barack Obama.
""[Obama's] talked about not just returning back to the old economy, which has some weaknesses about it, he talks about needing to make adjustments in education, energy and health care because he sees those as the foundations of a new, stronger economy, and I think he's right about that,"" Cieslewicz said.
The mayor's plan aims to make the city more business-friendly and to demonstrate that Madison can be both progressive and pro-business. Cieslewicz said he hopes to develop high-tech industries through partnering with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, bolster Madison's image as a center for arts and tourism, build on the city's natural assets such as the lakes, and compete with other regions.
One prospective development the mayor expressed particular enthusiasm for was a regional transit authority, which he said would likely be created in approximately five years. Cieslewicz said a commuter rail would extend Madison's community beyond municipal boundaries and improve the city bus system and streets.
""What we really need to do is think about this as a region … where the people who work in your businesses don't necessarily live in the municipality that the business is located in, so that's why the RTA is so important,"" he said.
With a potential $18 to $25 million in stimulus funding and help from other city leaders such as UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin and Common Council members, Cieslewicz said he is confident the city economy can turn around.
""We can either respond by turning in and being cautious or we can respond by being bold and aggressive and thinking about the future,"" Cieslewicz said. ""We've got to think about the future, we've got to think about the next 20, 30, 40, 50 years and respond aggressively on these things rather than just pulling in.""
