📝 School superintendent is getting paid how much?

📍 How New Legislative Maps Will Impact Madison Voters

• Gov. Tony Evers signed new legislative maps into law last week that will split Wisconsin’s Senate and Assembly districts more evenly between Democrats and Republicans. The former maps were declared unconstitutional in December.
• These new maps weaken advantages for Republicans that had been in place since 2011.
• So what does this mean for you? Your state legislators may change due to reshaped districts, new faces may run in new districts, and your current lawmaker may have to run in another district and possibly not be voted in.
• From Senate District 15 to Assembly District 81, here’s what the new lines have in store for you. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

👀 New Superintendent is Earning How Much?

• Newly hired Madison Metropolitan School District Superintendent Joe Gothard signed a two-year agreement with the School Board on Monday, which includes an annual salary of $299,000 with a minimum 2% increase each year starting next summer, 87 sick days, plus unused time off from a decade ago.
• And that’s not all. The board will reimburse Gothard for up to $10,000 in relocation expenses and pay his monthly temporary living expenses of $3,500 for up to six months, or until he sells his Minnesota home. He will receive a $500 residency stipend for each month he lives in the district, plus an $800 monthly travel allowance. Also, he’s got 30 vacation days, 13 more personal illness days, but 10 unpaid holidays.
• If Gothard gets a successful performance evaluation, he’ll be eligible for a merit bonus each contract year.
• By comparison, outgoing superintendent Carlton Jenkins started with a $272,000 annual salary in 2020. [The Cap Times]

🏘️ West-side Madisonians Organize Against Rent Hikes

• More than 100 tenants of the Royal Arms complex on N. Segoe Road by Hilldale have signed a letter to management asking them to reduce the 20% rent increase to match inflation, and for the lease renewal deadline to be extended to April, among other changes.
• Residents of the 144-unit apartment complex received a note on Feb. 7 that they say is “by far the largest rent increase in the property’s history.”
• The building, still commonly referred to as Karen Arms despite a change in name and ownership last year, has traditionally served seniors and has long been seen as a no-frills complex offering affordable housing.
• About 50 residents met with building owner Les Orosz on Feb. 2, where according to attendees, Orosz agreed to extend the timeline but offered vague assurances about “reevaluating” other lease terms. [Isthmus]

🚔 Father Says Monona PD’s Pursuit Policy Killed His Son

• In this open letter, Jonathan Farris responds to Acting Monona Mayor Doug Wood’s recent column where he wrote that “Monona's policy for police pursuits is appropriate.” Farris, whose son Paul died in 2007 after a driver feeling an officer for a misdemeanor crashed into the cab where his son was riding, argues their pursuit policy is instead “perilous,” and that a dangerous high-speed pursuit is often “not the best course of action.”
• Farris criticizes Wood’s arguments for loosening Monona’s police pursuit policies and says a “chase till the wheels fall off” school of thought could sadly put more citizens and police officers at risk.
• Farris describes conversations he’s had with officers and police executives he’s spoken to on the issue, as well as a Department of Justice-funded report on vehicular pursuits. [Wisconsin State Journal]

From Strip Club to World Grocery on Madison’s East Side

It’s not every day that a strip club becomes a local grocery store. But that’s what happened on Madison’s east side, where the Visions Club once operated. It’s now been completely renovated and turned into Gooh Grocery, which offers a mix of food from around the world. Where else can you get fresh plantains, labneh cultured yogurt, millet, and spicy peppers with halal meat all at the same place? Just for starters. Molly Stentz sat down with owners Samba Baldeh and Jerreh Kujabi to learn what’s good.