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Dane County executive candidates discuss racial and social justice issues in public forum

On Nov. 5, voters in Dane County will select a new county executive for the first time since 2011 when Joe Parisi assumed the office. Parisi stepped down this past May with a year left on his current term and called a special election to replace him. After an initial election on Aug. 13, two candidates advanced to a November runoff: state Senator Melissa Agard, and RCC Sexual Violence Center Executive Director Dana Pellebon. Last week, local non-profits hosted the candidates at a south side forum to discuss some of the campaign’s most pressing issues. Reporter Jess Miller has the story. Image courtesy: Jess Miller / WORT News

Broadcast on:: 23 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: other

This past Thursday, the two candidates for Dane County Executive, Dana Pelobon and Melissa Agard, took part in an hour-long forum held by Families for Justice, Freedom Inc., Urban Triage, and the Madison Branch for the Women's International League for Freedom and Peace. With an audience of around 50 community members, the candidates answered 10 questions, 4 written by the hosting organizations and 6 from audience members, focusing mainly on topics of racial and social justice. Representatives from the hosting organizations moderated the forum, and each candidate had two minutes to respond to the questions. The candidates were first asked how they would work with and uplift LGBTQ communities and communities of color, quote, "Beyond resolutions and declarations." In her answers, Pelobon leveraged her career as a community servant. She currently works as the executive director for the RCC Sexual Violence Center and previously worked as the director of housing operations at Porchlight Inc. She's also served on the Dane County Board of Supervisors. When I started at RCC, we had maybe 10% persons of color and queer folks as part of our clients and as a part of our staff. Now we're over 50%. And we are over 50% because what we make sure of is that every space that someone walks into, that they understand that they are being seen, that they are being heard, that they are being respected. So my edict for everything that I do is ensuring that those who do not have are brought up. A guard also invoked her years of experience as a legislator. She's been a state senator since 2020 and previously served in the state assembly and on the board of supervisors. One of the things that I have done in the legislature is authentically think about who it is that you're hiring for these positions, how do we increase diversity of the people in the Capitol Building, how is it that we increase diversity of the people who own public office, knowing when to shut up and pass the mic to other people that are in the room that can tell their personal stories, what is the story that you shouldn't be telling, but there are other people that should be telling those stories. Criminal Justice Reform was a frequent subject of discussion with both candidates expressing a desire to seek alternatives to incarceration. On the subject of the new Dane County Jail, which recently began construction, a guard stressed the need to improve the county's percidivism rate, while acknowledging that much of the funding that comes to the county is earmarked for specific projects. There are mandates that are coming from the state and the federal government, so we need to be thinking creatively about how it is that we can use those mandated dollars to impact our community and especially the communities that are most impacted by the justice system. Pellebon, who voted for the jail's construction during her time as a county supervisor, described her efforts to lower recidivism rates and reduce racial inequality in the county's carceral system, including funding Dane County's restorative courts. And the only way that we can make sure that the people are not falling through the cracks is to not have any cracks in the first place. So we have an enormous amount of gaps in our services, we have an enormous amount of gaps in our system, we are not working on prevention like we need to, and those are the things I'm going to put money behind. Housing and gentrification were also common themes. The candidates agreed that so-called affordable housing was no longer affordable for most Dane County residents, and that specific county level solutions were limited, but their recommendations for addressing housing issues were unique to their respective backgrounds. Pellebon argued for funding programs like the Madison Land Trust. Because it takes homes at that higher amount, they invest money into that home and then they sell the home to someone who needs it at around $200,000. And then that home stay supportable no matter who it is that they sold to because they worked with the city to come up with the land who's restricted to the street. While A-Guard urged thoughtful voting for municipal officials who would oppose gentrification. We need to lift up and elect people in these offices and these municipal offices that share our values, that understand the importance of preventing gentrification, that understand the importance of removing barriers of home ownership, that understand the importance of local businesses that are owned by our friends and neighbors, as opposed to big black stories. On paper, one question from the audience acknowledged, the two candidates seemed to have much in common. The candidates spoke about how their differences would affect how they ran the county. Everything that they do is at a thousand foot level, and this is what our county executive office needs. So we have had a lot of legislators in that position, they've been working at a ten thousand foot level. And at that ten thousand foot level, what you have seen is an increase in racial disparities over time here in the county to the point where we have some of the worst in the nation. I understand a lot of aspects of housing, human services, criminal legal system, the systems that deeply affect those of us who look like me. Well, there's no secret here, I'm a white woman. I know that I have privilege that comes along with being a white woman. I'm not sure that there are a lot of differences in how it is that Dana and I have lived our lives, right? Like we are public servants, we see problems, we identify them, and we roll up our slaves and we've only moved forward to address them. I know that as the next county executive, it's going to be important that I make space and prioritize people with lived experience in order to make these changes. Dane County voters will vote on the new county executive on November 5th. A guard in Pellebon are vying to replace Joe Parisi, who served as Dane County Executive for over twelve years before stepping down in May with a year left on his current term. Former Dane County Board Supervisor Jamie Kuhn is currently serving as interim county executive. In January Parisi endorsed A guard to succeed him. In an initial election on August 13th, A guard in Pellebon received 57% and 17.2% respectively of more than 170,000 votes cast for Dane County Executive. Dane County Equity and Inclusion Director Wes Sparkman and Madison Alderman Regina Vittiver also appeared on the ballot in that election, but failed to secure enough votes to advance to the November runoff. The winner of the November election will serve out the remainder of Parisi's four-year term, and a spring election will determine the county executive for the next four years. For WORT News, I'm Jess Miller.