Local and state governments--how to access them : City of Madison

Common Council home page:  https://www.cityofmadison.com/Council/

Description of Common Council:

"Madison's Common Council is made up of 20 democratically elected alders, who represent the residents of their districts, and work with the mayor, other city officials, and city employees to address issues that come before the Common Council that effect the entire city. The Common Council aims to reflect the desires and aspirations of its residents and embraces public involvement and input. Alders serve for 2 years." (from How Do I Run for Common Council page on the City of Madison web site)

Term of office: Madison alders are elected for two-year terms in the spring of odd-numbered years.

• Running for local office

Who is my alder? How do I contact my alder?

The following pages will help you identify the alder that represents you on the city council, and give you information on how to contact them.

• Find your alder by address 
• Aldermanic district map
• Alders listed by numerical district 

Common Council meetings info

• Meetings & agendas: Lists meetings and agendas for the upcoming meeting, and the most recent meeting
• Common Council Meeting Calendar: Lists dates of meetings through 2020.  No links
• How do I attend a meeting?
• How do I register at a meeting?  You can register to speak, or register in support of or opposition to an agenda item and not speak.
• Watch meetings on Madison City Channel: you can watch online. If you have cable tv, Madison City Channel is on Charter Digital 994 and AT&T U-Verse 99.

Madison Mayor’s Office:  https://www.cityofmadison.com/mayor

Elections for Madison mayor happen every four years in the spring. The next Madison mayoral election is in spring 2023.

• Contact the Mayor
• Mayor's Weekly Schedule
• News: links to press releases and statements

City of Madison Committees page (has info on boards and commissions also): https://www.cityofmadison.com/city-hall/committees

Overview of what committees, boards, and commissions do (2-page document created in 2007; linked from the Madison Common Council's Government Resource Guide.

• Apply to be on a board, commission, or committee
• Current committee vacancies
• List of boards, commissions, committees
  • List from the Legislative Information Center (Legistar).  It's a little confusing to navigate Legistar.
    • There are two rows of tabs near the top of the page, just above and below the body (committee, board, or commission) name.
    • When you click on a body name, you're put immediately into the "details" tab (in the row above the body name), and the meetings tab (in the row below the body name).  "Meetings" will list recent or upcoming meetings.
    • Click the "members" tab, to the right of "meetings" to get a list of members.
    • Click "description" in the row above the body name to get a description of what the body does.
    • Click "details" to see the name of the body you're viewing again. Click the name of that body to get a list of all committees, boards, and commissions.
  • Committee Meeting Times & Staff Contacts  
    • Click on a body (committee, board, or commission) name to view the body's regular meeting time, and information on how to contact the city staff person assigned to that body. The mission of the body is listed under the box with details about the body.
• Meeting schedule: list of upcoming meetings by date, and links to more information about the meeting.
• Watch meetings  of some committees, boards, and commissions on Madison City Channel. You can watch online. If you have cable tv, Madison City Channel is on Charter Digital 994 and AT&T U-Verse 99. Note that when it says "channel updated _______," that does NOT refer to the date of the last video updated.
  • Plan Commission
  • Finance Committee
  • Alcohol License Review Committee
  • Additional meetings: meetings of bodies that are not regularly covered by Madison City Channel or former boards, commissions, and committees of the City.