Accomplishments in Office
Since his election, Cieslewicz has been an active executive and has implemented many of his campaign's promises.
- In conjunction with former Alderperson Brenda Konkel, the city enacted a mandatory inclusionary zoning ordinance, which required most new housing development to provide 15% of its units at affordable prices to people of modest incomes in exchange for density bonuses and other incentives. A focal point of his campaign, the Mayor announced in his April 2009 state of the city address that this had been a failure.
- A municipal minimum wage was successfully enacted in March, 2004 with the leadership of Alder Austin King. Scaled to rise to $7.75 per hour by 2008 and thereafter to be indexed to inflation, Madison's wage ordinance made it the fourth city in the country with its own minimum standard. Madison's efforts prompted Milwaukee, La Crosse and Eau Claire to establish their own municipal minimum wages. This resulted in a statewide compromise in May 2005, where Wisconsin's minimum wage rose to $6.50 per hour in exchange for prohibiting wage modifications at the municipal level.
- A number of updates to city infrastructure were also implemented, including new automated recycling and refuse collection programs, a merger of the city's civil rights departments, the creation of a comprehensive city planning process, and the creation of the city's first municipal swimming pool.
- Supporter of an initiative that eventually defeated the opening of a casino in Madison.
- Cieslewicz and the city council implemented a citywide smoking ban, that prohibited smoking in any public space, including bars and taverns. The ban went into effect in July 2005.
- He is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
- Cieslewicz has also launched the New Cities Project, an organization of mayors and chiefs of staff dedicated to fostering progressive metropolitan leadership.
Read more about this topic: Dave Cieslewicz
Famous quotes containing the word office:
“While the focus in the landscape of Old World cities was commonly government structures, churches, or the residences of rulers, the landscape and the skyline of American cities have boasted their hotels, department stores, office buildings, apartments, and skyscrapers. In this grandeur, Americans have expressed their Booster Pride, their hopes for visitors and new settlers, and customers, for thriving commerce and industry.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)