Madison Common Council approves new alder, denies pay raises

MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – The Madison Common Council met for almost four hours Tuesday night to approve a new interim alder and clearing the way for the construction of a new 11-story hotel downtown, and to deny giving themselves a pay raise. 

Kicking off the meeting, the council swore in John Guequierre as the newest alder of District 19. That seat was held by Kristen Slack, who was elected to the seat last spring. Slack announced last month that she was resigning from the position due to an ongoing family illness. Guequierre ran against Slack in last year’s election, but lost.

A long-time west side resident, Guequierre works for I-OSC LLC, a consulting firm that helps construction companies build sustainable and affordable buildings. Guequierre also serves on the city’s Sustainable Madison Committee. Guequierre told WORT News last spring that his top priority in the city of Madison was housing.

“Building a full range of housing is complicated,” Guequierre said. “First, we need to preserve existing affordable housing. Second, we need to make sure that our building code allows the use of the latest cost-saving, safety-improving, climate-responsive technologies. Third, and most difficult, is increasing density where it makes most sense.”

Guequierre was sworn into his seat as District 19 alder last night, and says that he is unlikely to seek another term when his time is up.

Also on the docket for last night’s meeting was the approval of a zoning change to potentially allow an 11-story hotel at the site of the former Madison Area Technical College downtown campus. The campus closed in 2019, and the site has sat as an empty hole for years. In its place, the Middleton-based NCG Hospitality wants to build an 11-story split-brand hotel, split between an Autograph Collection Hotel and an extended-stay Residence Inn Hotel by Marriott. 

The group would also repurpose the still-standing but empty MATC building next door into 126 loft-style apartments, with space for businesses as well. 

The council unanimously approved changing the site’s zoning designation, allowing the project to continue moving forward. A separate proposal to allow the construction of the hotel is pending.

The final major item on last night’s agenda was a resolution to raise alders pay to around $24,000 a year. Currently, Madison alders make $15,000 a year. Increasing alder salary to around $24,000 would cost the city an extra $147,000 a year.

Raising alder pay in Madison was first floated in 2020, when a city Task Force on Government Structure found that, while alders are expected to work around 20-hours a week, many work significantly more than that in order to attend meetings, meet with constituents, and create and study policy changes. While raising alder pay has gone before the council many times, it has yet to pass.

The council spent nearly three hours debating raising their pay last night. Backers of the pay raise say that the low pay disincentives people from low socioeconomic backgrounds from running for alder, putting the position out of reach for low income people.

District 2 Alder Juliana Bennett says that the low pay also keeps alders from doing their job to their fullest. She says that instead of having to work multiple jobs just to pay for rent, a raise would allow her to better serve her district. Alder Bennett says that she even faced eviction while serving as alder at one point.

Critics of the plan, however, pointed to the city’s looming budget crisis. During last year’s budget deliberations, Madison was projected to be facing a $75 million deficit by the end of the decade. 

Ultimately, after hours of debate and around 7 amendments looking to lower the proposed raise, alders rejected the plan on a 14-5 vote, not enough to pass the three-quarters margin needed to amend the budget.