Madison Spring Election Guide: District 2

by Safety Connection March 16, 2023

You can impact public safety decisions in Madison with your vote in the Tuesday April 4th spring election in Madison!

Your District 2 candidates are Colin Barushok and Juliana Bennett.

Our pick: Colin Barushok!

Colin Barushok has a lot of experience serving our City. He started by watching over student segregated fees at Associated Students of Madison. Then served the State Senate by overseeing committee hearings and floor sessions. He served on the City of Madison’s Vending Oversight Committee, ensuring downtown businesses had the best chance to survive the pandemic by expanding sidewalk cafes. Now he defends residents and supports local businesses on the Alcohol License Review Committee and does policy work for a State Senator. He is committed to making our city government work better for everyone. His experience sets him apart, and he is ready to work for you on day one.

Colin Barushok will:

Prioritize preventing crime
Advocate for adequate resources so police have time for community-oriented policing
Support body cameras for police officers
Work to increase funding for MPD training.
Prioritize open and transparent government
Defend historical landmarks as well as prioritize new development.
Support the evaluation of the developing BRT system to ensure it is running efficiently and equitably.

Juliana Bennett has a strong history of anti-police votes. The lone sponsor of a resolution that set out to ban police from using tear gas, mace, any other chemical munitions, and other non-lethal tools, like beanbag rounds, Juliana is out of touch with standards of modern policing, which emphasizes more non-lethal tools, not fewer. More options make it less likely that lethal force might be needed and that’s a better outcome for everyone.

Juliana Bennett:

voted no on the body-worn camera pilot program
voted no to accepting 6 grant-funded police officers to work proactively with at-risk youth
voted no on fixing an actively leaking (and past the replacement date) city building’s roof because it houses the Madison Police Department’s training center.
sponsored a resolution that set out to ban police from using tear gas, mace, any other chemical munitions, and other non-lethal tools, like beanbag rounds, but then pulled it the morning of the vote due to lack of support from other Alders
voted to remove Parking Enforcement Officers (PEOs) out from under the Madison Police Department and into Parking Utility which was vehemently opposed by PEOs for many reasons—many of them safety-related. And it cost you (a city taxpayer) more money. Alders in support of the move urged their colleagues to remember their commitment to “reimagining public safety”
voted to repeal the juvenile curfew
voted for massive zoning changes that will likely cause a decrease in the starter home market and increase racial disparity rates in home ownership
is endorsed by the Progressive Dane PAC and will therefore serve their agenda instead of serving with a district-oriented mindset. She will be held accountable for every vote by this political action committee which has endorsed her, as evidenced by this statement on their website, among other things: “We make no apologies for expecting endorsed candidates to remain accountable to their campaign promises and to our progressive program. They are recruited to work with each other and Progressive Dane on a regular basis.”