Fiscal Note
No fiscal impact.
Title
Commending, honoring and expressing appreciation to Assistant City Attorney John Strange after 12 years of service to the City.
Body
WHEREAS, in 2009, John Strange, a recently arrived lawyer to Madison from North Carolina, by way of Alabama and Indiana, sought his next great challenge, and joined a divided City Attorney’s Office, which at that time was physically split in two; and
WHEREAS, months after John’s arrival at the City Attorney’s Office, the Office’s employees were reunited together in one office, which certainly was no coincidence and is emblematic of John’s ability to bring people and interests together for the City’s common good; and
WHEREAS, eventually, John became the City’s primary lawyer for the Planning Division and Madison Metro. John has provided invaluable professional counsel to the City during his tenure with the City, attending numerous after hours and overnight meetings, and even successfully arguing an unsuccessful case in the Wisconsin Supreme Court; and
WHEREAS, in 2017, John volunteered to be the staff attorney for the Task Force on the Structure of City Government Committee (TFOGS), spending countless hours working with that Committee and its members and helping to prepare the TFOGS Final Report on the City’s government structure, as well as subsequently working with the Council and the Ad Hoc TFOGS Implementation Workgroup on implementing the recommendations of that report; and
WHEREAS, John has authored numerous ordinances and resolutions over the years, making the City safer for birds, less affordable for Airbnb users, and ensuring that rezonings and conditional uses always follow the law, notwithstanding numerous complaints to the contrary; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, John’s passion for running and the outdoors led him to a chance encounter at Indian Lake County Park and the eventual founding of the Friends of Indian Lake, along with the establishment of an annual fundraising trail run event for the Park. The annual Trail Run at Indian Lake, which John organized and ran for a decade, has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Park and improved the recreational amenities available to all users of the facility; and
WHEREAS, John has had the opportunity to teach legal research and writing at the University of Wisconsin Law School, helping aspiring lawyers learn these critical skills. John has been passionate about this work and the future of the program, so when the Law School offered him a full-time faculty position in the legal writing department, after much thought, John accepted; and
WHEREAS, as an example of John’s commitment to equity and fostering interest in legal careers among youth of all backgrounds, in 2021, John led the City Attorney’s Office’s first effort to host high school summer interns through the Wanda Fullmore Scholarship Program and the 100 Black Men of Madison organization, allowing these students to obtain exposure and insight into municipal law and public sector careers, an effort which will have an impact well into the future; and
WHEREAS, over the past 12 years with the Office of the City Attorney, John has been not only a valuable employee to the City, but he has been an invaluable member of the City Attorney’s Office, always available to his co-workers, unflappable in his work, appreciative of others’ time and opinions, enthusiastically supporting potlucks and other events, inspiring others and solving problems on lunchtime runs in Olin Park, and willing to share updates on life as a swim club parent and a hockey dad. While the Office has not been physically together since March 2020, when it does come back together, the Office will not feel the same without John’s presence and he will be missed by all;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Common Council of the City of Madison hereby commends and thanks Assistant City Attorney John Strange for his years of dedicated, professional legal service to the City of Madison, its elected officials, employees, and residents.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Mayor and Common Council congratulates John Strange on the occasion of his hiring at the University of Wisconsin Law School, wishing him and his family well in all of their future endeavors and this next step in his legal career.