Spring 2021 Election

Posted on Posted in Elections, Endorsements, General, Political, Voting Guides

The TAA Political Education Committee is currently considering endorsements in Madison-area Spring 2021 races. We are sending questionnaires out to campaigns to help our committee make recommendations.

The tentative timeline for our primary endorsement process is:

  • Early January — Questionnaire responses due from candidates with competitive primary elections
  • Mid January — Questionnaire responses from these candidates posted on the TAA website
  • Mid January — PEC sends its recommendations for endorsement out to the union’s general membership
  • End of January — TAA membership will consider primary endorsements at our January Membership Meeting

In the case that an endorsed candidate does not make it through a competitive primary election, the TAA Political Education Committee may consider endorsing another candidate in that race.

The tentative timeline for our general endorsement process is:

  • Early February — Questionnaire responses due from candidates with competitive general elections
  • Mid February — Questionnaire responses from these candidates posted on the TAA website
  • Mid February — PEC sends its recommendations for endorsement out to the union’s general membership; if the committee cannot reach consensus, PEC may request conversations with candidates or may look for additional information
  • February / March — TAA membership will consider primary endorsements at a membership meeting

Here are the questions we have prepared for candidates in the Madison Common Council races:

Instructions: These questions are intended to give TAA members and the community a sense of your values and intentions. For each question, please give your stance on the issue, as well as an overview of how you intend to enact your values through Common Council. Your answers will be made available on the TAA website to allow our membership and bargaining unit to make an informed decision, both for union endorsements and for their voting.

  1. Why did you decide to run for city council? What motivates you to participate in public service and what history, if any, do you have serving the public?
  2. What role should indigenous communities play in decisions made within Teejop?
  3. What would you do to improve transit service and affordability, particularly in neighborhoods farther away from campus / downtown? 
  4. What would you do to improve housing affordability? How would you address increased houselessness and the eviction crisis in the wake of COVID-19? How will you address racial and socioeconomic segregation in Madison? 
  5. What would you do to address income and wealth inequality in Madison and access to a living wage for all Madison residents? How will you address the systemic racial gap in economic achievement?
  6. What relationship should Madison have with state and federal law enforcement with regards to drug enforcement? With regards to federal agents targeting protestors? How can Madison protect its undocumented residents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement? What other governmental and private partners are needed to ensure the rights of both documented and undocumented residents?
  7. What would you do to ensure that communities have access to public health services, including treatment for substance dependence and COVID-19? How will you ensure equitable access for women? For LGBTQ folks? For disabled folks? For minoritized racial and ethnic groups?
  8. What are your views on the privatization and contracting out of public services, including local government services? What do you believe is the city’s relationship with the employees’ unions? 
  9. What relationship should the Madison Common Council have with the campus community and University leadership? What role should the city play in university affairs? Since students live all across Madison, how will you represent student interests in your aldership?
  10. Community members on all sides of the policing debate have cited too many responsibilities as a flaw in the current implementation of policing in Madison. How can we reduce the burden on police officers?
  11. What do you see as the role of policing in a healthy community? How does that vision align with how MPD’s role in Madison? How do chemical weapons, lethal force, and qualified immunity fit into that ideal role? 
  12. If you had to identify $30 million in necessary cuts, what would you prioritize cutting? If you could identify $30 million in additional investments what would you invest in?
  13. Who does a city government serve? Which communities in your district will you represent or prioritize? How will you engage with them?
  14. This questionnaire presented the above issues separately. How do those issues affect one another?
  15. What are your policy priorities? Please take this as an opportunity to highlight which answers above are most important to you or to expand upon any issues which were not addressed.

If you have any questions about our endorsement process, please contact Rob Timberlake at rob@taa-madison.org.