Two candidates running to represent the heavily student-populated 5th District on the Dane County Board of Supervisors discussed campaign policies at a debate Monday.
The debate featured current UW-Madison senior Analiese Eicher and Michael Johnson, a student at Madison Area Technical College.
The debate primarily focused on the candidates' policies on affordable housing, environmental concerns, safety issues and constituent involvement in the board's decision-making process.
According to Johnson, a member of Progressive Dane and the Madison Affirmative Action Commission, providing affordable housing for the Madison area's workforce and students is crucial for economic and academic growth. If elected, he said he plans to restart the Dane County Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
""The housing rates on campus are relatively a little high for your average UW student,"" he said. ""We need to continue to maintain that quality of life that people want to live here and want to work here.""
To fund the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, Johnson proposed a $10 fee for realtors and buyers and sellers of real estate to avoid increasing taxes on the entire population.
According to Eicher, a member of the College Democrats of Wisconsin, cleaning up Madison's lakes and waterways should be a top priority.
""Our crew team is out there every morning. Hoofers is out there, students doing research are out there,"" she said. ""Having [the lakes] as a clean, safe place to be is incredibly important.""
To fund the proposed clean-up projects, Eicher said she plans to apply for federal and local grant money through the Clean Water Act. She said one possible grant proposal would be for manure digesters that turn food waste into natural gas and methane for sale to Madison Gas and Electric.
To promote constituent involvement within Dane County's 5th District, both candidates said they intend to take steps to increase outreach.
Eicher said she plans to maintain a blog and increase overall communication through the Internet and campus newspapers.
Johnson said he plans to facilitate constituent involvement by contacting campus organizations and attending meetings, not relying on them to contact him.
In a separate interview, Johnson responded to controversial comments he made about the Jewish community on a campus blog two years ago.
His comments were first posted in 2008 and have since been brought up by another campus blogger in light of recent campus issues involving anti-Semitism.
Johnson said he has deep regret for the ""insensitive and hurtful"" comments and said he hopes to move on to further build a unified and stronger campus community.
He said the comments are not representative of who he is today or what he stands for.
""Definitely, relationships will have to be mended, and trust will have to be re-established,"" he said. ""But it's something I can work toward.""
The debate was sponsored by the Associated Students of Madison's Legislative Affairs Committee, The Daily Cardinal, The Badger Herald, WSUM and the Wisconsin Union Directorate's Society and Politics Committee.
Elections for the Dane County Board of Supervisors will be held Tuesday, April 6.
