I’m always here I’M STILL HERE!for you! 26 years in VASD Housing Market
It’s your paper! Friday, September 11, 2020 • Vol. 7, No. 7 • Fitchburg, WI • ConnectFitchburg.com • $1
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Kathy Bartels 608-235-2927
KBartels@StarkHomes.com
City of Fitchburg
Inside
No decision on D-1 polling place
Reading program faces unusual circumstances Page 2 Business loans changed
Any change must be 30 days before election
Page 8
KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
Screenshot by Emilie Heidemann
Page 13
Talking race and politics City alder, former mayor share experiences on Latinx TalkBack show
Business
EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
T Hop Haus opens new restaurant Page 15
Sports
Lauren, Courtney Shorter grapple with COVID-19, injury comeback Page B1
Schools VASD reopening plan pushes deadline Page B4
wo Fitchburg residents — an alder and a former mayor — had a single goal in mind when they appeared on Wisconsin Mujer’s ‘Latinx TalkBack’ a month ago. That goal was to bring awareness to the intersectionality of being Black or Latinx within the arena of local politics, city alder and episode moderator Joe Maldonado told the Star. The show, which aired live on the Wisconsin Mujer Facebook page Thursday, Aug. 6, was titled the “Latinx TalkBack on Black and Latinx Politics in our Community.” Former Fitchburg mayor Frances Huntley-Cooper, who was the first Black mayor in state history and served from 1991-93, was a panelist. She appeared with fellow guests Madison Metropolitan School District’s Board of Education president Gloria Reyes, social justice activist Jonathan William Osorio Delgado and Clover Phoenix Capital owner Beny Perez-Reyes, who helps fund businesses in the Milwaukee area. Madison-based social engagem e n t c o m p a n y Wi s c o n s i n Mujer, is run by founder Aracelie Esparza. She told the Star the online show started as a response to the killing of George Floyd in May. Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on
“We wanted to highlight the struggles of our generation and of our community … to break the isolation of being Latino in the Midwest. Although we try to represent all voices in each one of our (episodes), we have a long way to go to break down the hundreds of years of white supremacy, but as Latinos to refuse to be active in the Black Liberation movement is to deny ourselves an alliance that is not just necessary, but mandatory.” Aracelie Esparza Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest, which his family’s coroner said is what led to Floyd’s death. “We wanted to highlight the struggles of our generation and of our community … to break the isolation of being Latino in the Midwest,” Esparza wrote in an email. “Although we try to represent all voices in each one of our (episodes), we have a long way to go to break down the hundreds of years of white supremacy, but as Latinos to refuse to be active in the Black Liberation movement is to deny ourselves an alliance that is not just necessary, but mandatory.” Esparza wrote the show and its guests are meant to give voices to the “oppressions that are ingrained in our community and often swept under the rug.” As for Maldonado, during the episode he said as a member of
the Latinx community, he had to be incredibly aware of how the general public might perceive him upon running for office — even with Fitchburg having grown to have a more diverse population than Madison. “I had to really be aware of how I communicate ... who I was talking to … what their level of understanding is,” Maldonado told the Star in a phone interview. “I was very cognizant of what I look like.” Huntley-Cooper said during the episode that she had served during a time Fitchburg’s local government wasn’t representative of its communities of color. She recalled having a lot of support during her campaign and having no trouble garnering money for fundraising. But she had to be “strategic” about
Turn to Show /Page 13
Turn to Polling/Page 13
Photo by Kimberly Wethal
Poll worker Kim Grafenauer sanitizes the booth after a voter completed their ballot at the. District 1 polling location. The state’s partisan primary was held on Tuesday, Aug. 11, where Fitchburg residents were able to vote for a primary in either the state’s 80th assembly district, or the state’s 16th senate district. 151
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Meijer moves forward
City alder Joe Maldonado and former Fitchburg mayor Frances Huntley-Cooper appeared on Wisconsin Mujer’s the Latinx TalkBack last month.
The City of Fitchburg is running out of time to move an ill-suited polling place prior to the November election. The Common Council postponed a vote during its Tuesday, Sept. 8, meeting that would have moved the District 1 polling location to a location that’s easier for most of the district to access on foot or by bus. The two resolution options would have added a second polling location on either side of Verona Road, with the one closer to the Allied Drive/Dunn’s Marsh neighborhood and shared with the City of Madison, to Fitchburg Fire Station No. 2, which is on Marketplace Drive, outside of the district boundaries. But both had complications the council could not sort out that night. The council has until Sunday, Oct. 4, to relocate the polling place for the Nov. 3 election. Voters need to be notified at least 30 days prior to such a change, and the council has only one scheduled meeting before that, Sept. 22. One of the polling locations proposed at both the Aug. 25 and Sept. 8 meetings is Redeemer City Church, on the west side of Verona Road in the Jamestown neighborhood. City clerk Tracy Oldenburg toured with District 1’s election inspectors prior to the Tuesday, Aug. 25, meeting, but found it did not allow for proper social distancing needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. She didn’t rule it out for future elections, as the pastors are eager to have the space used for community purposes. The other location, at the Boys and
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