Dane County Board wants input on renaming City-County building for Obama

Brittany Paris by Brittany Paris

Dane County and City of Madison officials continue to look into whether or not the City-County building should be named after former President Barack Obama.

Al Matano, the county board supervisor for District 11, introduced the resolution at a county board meeting in June. It’s since recieved backlash from people who think it would be disgraceful to name a building that houses a jail after the U.S.’s first African American president.

“I don’t know of any president in the United States with a jail named after them and let’s not let President Obama be the first. That’s not something I’m interested in doing,” Shelia Stubbs, Dane County Board Supervisor for District 23, said.

Stubbs has brought her concerns to to the Dane County Board Thursday, proposing a resolution that created an online poll that asks county residents if they think the City-County building’s name should be changed to the Barack Obama City-County building. Stubbs is confident Dane County residents will vote no.

“People have said you guys can do better. Let’s do better. And so what this survey does it gives residents the opportunity to give me thoughts and give us thoughts. Its it a topigraphical area? Should we be looking at schools? Should it be streets? Should it be [the] airport,” Stubbs said.

The resoultion will be sent to the County Liasion Committtee and the Dane County Public Works Committee for consideration before coming back to the County Board floor for a final vote. Stubbs asked for her colleagues to sign the resolution on Thursday as co-sponsors.

She said the poll will be open throughout the summer and expects a final vote sometime in August or September.

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