Madison’s city government has a new look as new Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and a fresh-faced city council were sworn in Tuesday.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by former Mayor Paul Soglin, who was soundly defeated by Rhodes-Conway in the mayoral election, despite his earlier comments that he would not be present.
In her first action as mayor, Rhodes-Conway and Dane County Executive Joe Parisi held a joint conference to announce an agreement on funding construction on Buckeye and Cottage Grove roads. Soglin had previously been at odds on the issue with Parisi, who went on to endorse Rhodes-Conway for mayor.
Rhodes-Conway is the first openly gay person and second woman to be mayor of Madison. She came to office in a women’s wave, which also made the Madison Metropolitan School Board an all-female board.
In addition to the new mayor, UW-Madison’s campus and its surrounding neighborhoods now have new representation, as UW-Madison freshman Avra Reddy was sworn in as the District 8 alder.
The council also elected new leadership, choosing Shiva Bidar, District 5, as the new council president and Barbara Harrington-McKinney, District 1, as vice president.
Following the swearing-in ceremony, Mayor Rhodes-Conway and the city council held their first meeting, which went without debate.
