Government

1963 was a busy year in the United States. Within the span of 12 months, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have A Dream” speech, John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Iron Man made his debut in Marvel Comics, and Beatlemania took off.

It’s also the year Middleton, which had already been a community for more than a century, officially became a city. It happened on Tuesday, April 9 at 3 p.m., according to that week’s Middleton Times-Tribune. City clerk August Dahlk and new Mayor A.M. McDermid, D.V.M, looked on as Wisconsin Secretary of State Robert C. Zimmerman signed the document changing Middleton from a village to a city.

McDermid had won election as Middleton’s first mayor one week earlier, receiving a minority vote of 680 out of 1,636 total votes cast for the office. His nearest opponent, Bruce Bennett, earned 565 votes. Leonard Bruce and Ben Denson came in third and fourth, respectively.

Town of Middleton Board Supervisor Richard Oberle alleged that Town Chair Milo Breunig and supervisors Bill Kolar and Tim Roehl may have violated state open meetings law by taking out a group advertisement in the March 28 Times-Tribune.

Oberle contends that the ad copy may show that the three board incumbents discussed town business and “met” to approve it before it was published with their consent.

Oberle said Monday that he has asked the Wisconsin Towns Association to look into his allegation.

“The three are collaborating on issues not properly noticed,” said Oberle. “That shows me they’re talking to each other outside of town meetings.”

Sitting local candidates defeated their challengers across the board in Tuesday’s election.

In the Town of Middleton, Chair Milo Breunig, Seat 1 Supervisor Tim Roehl and Seat 2 Supervisor Bill Kolar all overcame spirited challengers and walked away with decisive victories. None of the challengers - Greg DiMiceli, Cynthia Richson and Troy Alton, respectively - crossed the 40 percent threshold.

In their race for a seat on the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School Board, incumbent Diane Hornung trounced Fred Zietz for the second time in a row. Teacher David Dahmen’s write-in campaign was little threat to the candidacy of sitting school board member Jim Greer in Area 1.

Town Chair

Milo Breunig (I): 66%

Greg DiMiceli: 34%

Town Supervisor 1

Tim Roehl (I): 62%

Cynthia Richson: 38%

Town Supervisor 2

Bill Kolar (I): 70%

Troy Alton: 30%

The general theme of this year’s three contested races for Middleton Town Board is nothing new in the world of politics:

The incumbents say local government is on solid footing, and their experience can help keep it that ways. The challengers say it’s time for fresh voices, accusing many on the current board from being out of touch with their constituents.

What is unique, at least for the Town of Middleton, is the hostile gist of the candidates and their supporters.

Middleton Town Board candidates invested in this year’s election like never before, with incumbent Town Chairman Milo Breunig raising the most money of the three candidates who filed statements by Monday, and incumbent Supervisor Tim Roehl spending the most.

None of the board members up for re-election Tuesday - Bill Kolar, Roehl and Breunig - were opposed last time around, but they now face aggressive challenges from Troy Alton, Cynthia Richson and Greg DiMiceli, respectively.

Breunig, who has been on the board since 1998, said this is the first campaign finance statement he’s ever filed.

“I didn’t expect to have to spend more than $1,000 [the threshold for filing a statement]…but with so much misinformation out there, we’re just trying to get fliers out to stay up with it,” Breunig said.

When Middletonians fill out their Spring Election ballots on April 2 (or now through early voting) to determine the outcome of races for town board and school board, they will also have the opportunity to answer a countywide referendum question on voter registration.

State Rep. Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) issued a statement this week calling it “the most important question voting citizens will answer.” Hesselbein, who served on the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School Board  and Dane County Board before winning a seat in the state legislature, urged the community to vote yes on the question: “Should the state of Wisconsin continue to allow people to register to vote at the polls on Election Day.”

Absentee voting at the Town Hall starts today for the Spring Election.  You may vote by absentee during the town's regular office hours for the next two weeks:

Monday, March 18 –Thursday, March 21: 7:30 am-4:00 pm

Friday, March 22: 7:30 am-Noon

Monday, March 25 –Thursday, March 28: 7:30 am-4:00 pm

Friday, March 29: 7:30 am-5:00 pm

During this window of time, voter registration must be done in person at the Town Hall.  After 5 p.m. on Friday, March 29, neither voter registration nor voting will resume until Election Day (Tuesday, April 2).

A copy of the sample ballot has been posted to the Town’s website.  If you have any questions, call 608-833-5887.

The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School Board on Monday unanimously approved a resolution awarding the sale of $59.86 million general obligation school building bonds.

American Transmission Co. has energized the completed 32-mile, 345-kilovolt Rockdale-West Middleton Transmission Line.

The project was first introduced to the public in 2004, kicking off with a comprehensive outreach effort which included 22 public meetings attended by 3,300 people over three years. More than 2,600 written comments were submitted by stakeholders and included in the company’s application to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.

In 2009, after nearly two years of regulatory review, the PSC ordered a portion of the line to be built along the Beltline Highway.

A recent study suggests there is little need for a downtown parking ramp, news that was met with chagrin by many local business owners who have been calling on the city to build the structure with Tax Increment Financing.

Talk of constructing a new parking ramp is still circling, and parking limitations in the downtown area and beyond have been the source of much frustration for some time now, according the group that has been applying pressure on city leaders. In response, the City of Middleton recently hired Walker Parking Consultants to conduct the downtown parking ramp study.

On February 26, Philip Baron of Walker Parking Consultants presented the results of the draft study to Middleton residents. Baron offered a summary of the study’s findings, discussing the parking counts that were conducted, noting the total amount of public and private parking spaces, and pinpointing the peak weekday and weekend parking demands.