New Mayor, Same Anti-Homeless Policy

In 2018, Madison mayoral candidate Satya Rhodes-Conway gave an interview to Madison 365, where she stressed her compassionate, collaborative approach to the issues of homelessness and racial equity.  That marked a stark contrast with the combative approach articulated by then-mayor Paul Soglin. Largely on the strength of her promise of a more collaborative approach, Rhodes-Conway won the election handily, beating “mayor-for-life” Soglin by almost thirty points.   Many Rhodes-Conway supporters were surprised — if not disillusioned — when one of the new mayor’s first acts was to endorse a police crackdown on gatherings of homeless people, many African-American, at the intersection of Madison’s State Street and the Capitol Square Dayna Long, recently wrote an opinion piece for Tone Madison decrying the mayor’s move.  Dayna Long joined Monday 8 O’Clock Buzz host Brian Standing.