It’s your paper! Friday, October 13, 2017 • Vol. 4, No. 8 • Fitchburg, WI • ConnectFitchburg.com • $1
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City of Fitchburg
Ride share pilot program approved Page 3 Lacy Road reconstruction nears completion Page 5
Schools
Homecoming parade photos Pages 8-9
Photo by Scott Girard
Mayor Jason Gonzaelz, center, listens to criticism from Boys and Girls Club of Dane County CEO Michael Johnson, left, about cutting city funding to the organization. Soon after, Badger Prairie Needs Network executive director Marcia Kasieta, right, offered similar criticism about the funding cut to her organization.
Budget battle
Sports
Hundreds show up to criticize Mayor’s proposed cut to funding for nonprofits SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Edgewood girls golf finishes runner up Page 10
Business
For the second time in less than a year, hundreds of people turned out to a public hearing to criticize a proposed City of Fitchburg budget. Many of them had returned, at the behest of Boys and Girls Club of Dane County CEO Michael Johnson to express their dismay about a plan to cut funding entirely for the BGC and Badger Prairie Needs Network. Johnson has criticized Mayor Jason Gonzalez through a variety of traditional and social media
outlets since Sept. 22, when Gonzalez introduced his plan. Gonzalez said the cuts were necessary to keep taxes manageable and plan ahead, but he had promised during the mayoral campaign earlier this year to fund the club as its own line item. That was in contrast to a proposal last year to funnel the money through a separate branch of the city with its own funding mechanism, which also brought a protest from BGC supporters. Fitchburg resident Timothy Mayman told the council he had voted for Gonzalez, but was disappointed
with this proposal. He worried what it would mean for underprivileged kids. “I do know there (were) things said that I feel are not being carried out,” Mayman said. “You take the funding, you take the opportunity.” Gonzalez has explained in several interviews with area media since introducing his plan that it’s a challenging year for the budget, especially because of expected expenses in 2019. He told the Star soon after the backlash to his budget began, that
Turn to Budget/Page 5
Budget schedule Sept. 22: Mayor’s budget proposal released Oct. 10: Public hearing on mayor’s proposal Oct. 12: Alder amendments due Oct. 20: Alder amendments posted to website Oct. 25: Committee of the Whole budget discussion Nov. 14: Public hearing on amendments; possible vote on amendments, final budget
Police, fire departments get the word out Extended stay hotel offers plenty of amenities Page 19
Public safety agencies using social media to engage
Department’s Facebook page shows police officers filling a grocery cart for a program to help the Allied Food Pantry. Another has a short video of an officer getHELU WANG ting a high-five from a K9 unit training dog. Unified Newspaper Group And one from last week O n e r e c e n t p o s t o n shows photos from the Coft h e F i t c h b u r g P o l i c e fee with a Cop event the PRSRT STANDARD ECRWSS US POSTAGE
PAID
department held in front of Starbuck’s on Triverton Pike Drive, including police serving coffee in the drive-thru. They’re part of a strategy Sgt. Edward Hartwick has been using to help “humanize” police officers and engage with Fitchburg citizens. FPD and the Fitchburg
Fire Department have both been putting an emphasis on social media to accomplish this goal over the past couple of years. Representatives from both departments say it’s led to improved interactions between neighbors and public safety departments. “The more content we put out, the more people
respond to it, which gets us to put out more interesting posts,” FFD business manager Meredith Shelton said. “It’s a spiral from there.” Posts have informed people of natural disasters, incident reports, road closures, training, new hirings and
Turn to Social/Page 17
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