Isthmus

“Your superpower is not just your vote,” Ben Wikler explains in an Isthmus interview. “It’s your ability to build a group of people that engage with a whole lot of other people to vote — and not just in presidential elections, but in races for governor, attorney general, city council, county supervisors…Every one of these levels of government is going to play a role in getting us out of this.”

Wikler has a simple message to Democratic leaders nationally, who are often volunteers who must shut down their organizations after elections.

“It is worth investing in building an enduring political infrastructure, so that the Democratic Party can be more than an anonymous series of text messages on your phone asking for money [and] can actually be a presence in the life of a community.”

Wikler writes in his book that Wisconsin’s 2028 U.S. Senate election could be pivotal to the nation’s political future.

“Defeating Ron Johnson…while winning the White House and House, could be the race that cinches the Senate majority for Democrats and opens the path” to making sure Republicans can’t gerrymander the nation after the 2030 Census.”

Read more at isthmus.com.

What's the best use for the final parcel of the Judge Doyle Square project?

A design prepared this year by Potter Lawson, the design firm that served as the lead consultant and master planner for parts of Judge Doyle Square, envisions the vacant lot’s final use as an “urban oasis” connecting other downtown projects on the horizon, including the redevelopment of two state office buildings (the state is selling G.E.F. buildings 2 and 3, and bids are due in early June) and the city-owned Brayton Lot (the city is reviewing two different proposals for housing from different developers).

Under Potter Lawson’s vision, the vacant lot could be a “green spine” between those buildings and a redeveloped, “worldclass” waterfront along John Nolen, an expansion of Monona Terrace, an Amtrak Station, and a hotel at 1 W. Wilson St., another state-owned building being sold off. (Following approval from the State Building Commission in May, the Legislature’s budget committee on June 2 approved the sale of the building to a private developer for $10 million.)

“That area is going to change a lot, and there’s a lot we want to be intentional about, especially with the G.E.F. and the Brayton Lot parcels now coming to fruition,” says Rebecca Prochaska, Potter Lawson’s president and CEO.

Read more at isthmus.com