Sanity in Mad City

There is evidence the adults are beginning to reassert control over Madison.

City Council stays on task: The Madison City Council continues to show that it is getting back on track and prioritizing core city issues. The trend seemed to start with last spring's city elections, when nearly half of the City Council turned over and the far-left political party Progressive Dane lost another seat.

A slew of successful city candidates promised to concentrate on local issues such as crime, traffic congestion, safe drinking water, housing and business development. They said they did not want to waste precious time and energy dabbling in national, international or intergalactic affairs that local officials don 't control.

Near the end of Tuesday's marathon City Council meeting, which lasted until nearly 4 a.m. Wednesday morning, most council members showed that they 're sticking to their words. They rebuffed a resolution calling for impeachment investigations against President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

People forget that Madison was represented by Republican Congressman Scott Klug from 1991-1999 and it took redistricting to abolish effective two party checks and balances in Dane County. In the ensuing monolithic power structure the lowest rungs of elected government were seized by children who wanted to play politics. The absurdity of endless City Council meetings about inappropriate topics extending late into the middle of night was noticed by the voters this last election, and the excesses are being (slowly) corrected. Thanks for noticing Owen.