Please go to our FAQ page:
https://cuttingbackcityhall.org/faqs
and read "What is the proper role of government in a free society?".
To recap, the proper role of government in a free society is to protect your rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is morally right that you pay for what you use.
Therefore it is morally right to pay the taxes for the government to offer the service of protecting your rights.
It is morally right that you don't pay for what you don't use.
Example: If you enter a store, and you don't buy something, then you don't pay for it.
It is morally wrong that the government coerces you to pay for what you don't use.
Example: If you don't play golf, then it is morally wrong that the government coerces you to pay for the Sunrise Golf Course.
Example: If you don't swim, then it is morally wrong that the government coerces you to pay for the Crystal Beach Aquatic Center.
Which parts of City Hall protect your rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness?
Example: the police department.
Example: the fire department.
It is not the government's job to provide you with (fill in the blank).
It is not the government's job to provide you with anything.
The government does not produce anything.
The only way for the government to give you something, is to take that something from someone else.
It is morally wrong that the government takes from you in order to give to someone else.
Please go to our FAQ page:
https://cuttingbackcityhall.org/faqs
and read "Why is the private sector better than the public sector?".
If elected, we will identify every part of City Hall which provides you with something, and will seek to outsource them to the private sector.
See below for more examples.
How much power and control does the Mayor have?
The Madison City Government web site page:
https://www.madison-in.gov/boards/
identifies the Boards and Commissions.
There are 15 entities comprised of appointments:
There are 2 Authorities - Port, Redevelopment
There are 7 Boards - Aviation, Public Works, Zoning Appeals, HDBR, Parks, Police Merit, Tree
There are 5 Commissions - Economic Development, Human Relations, Plan, Public Arts, Redevelopment
There is 1 Program - PACE
There are 75 seats on those 15 entities.
There are 2 seats that are not appointed:
The Mayor is on the Board of Public Works
The Madison Railroad Manager is on the Port Authority
There are 73 seats that are appointed:
1 is appointed by the School Board
2 are appointed by the Madison Police Department
2 are appointed by the Plan Commission
which is comprised of:
4 seats appointed by the Mayor
3 seats appointed by the City Council
2 seats appointed by the County Council
3 are appointed by the County Council
9 are appointed by the City Council
12 are appointed by the "Mayor with Council Consent"
44 are appointed by the Mayor
The Mayor sits on 1 seat.
The Mayor controls 44 appointments, plus 1 is 45.
The Mayor controls the City Council, which controls 9 appointments, plus 45 is 54.
The Mayor "with Council Consent" controls 12 appointments, plus 54 is 66.
The Mayor and the City Council control the Plan Commission, which controls 2 appointments, plus 66 is 68.
The Mayor controls 68 out of 75 seats.
The Mayor controls city government.
No one individual should have that much power or control.
If elected, we will seek to reduce the number of appointments made by the Mayor.
The authors of the Constitution were brilliant.
Their goal was to create a government in which no individual or group had too much power.
They created three branches (legislative, executive, and judicial).
They separated powers among those three branches.
They instituted a system of checks and balances to keep each branch from acquiring too much power.
Imagine if, one day, Congress (the legislative branch) said to the President (the executive branch):
"You preside over us. You have power over us. You control us."
That would destroy the separation of powers.
That would turn the President into the one man with power and control over everyone else.
No one would tolerate that.
Now consider Madison.
The Mayor plays the role of the executive branch.
The City Council plays the role of the executive branch.
On October 22, 2024, the City Council passed Ordinance 2024-6 (sponsored by Wilber and Schafer, passed by Krebs, Dattilo, Schafer, Storm, Bartlett, and Wilber)
https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/madisonin/latest/madison_in/0-0-0-11583
which included the following language:
"§ 30.07 RULES FOR PROCEDURE.
(B) The Mayor shall preside over all meetings of the Common Council."
and proceeded to enumerate the powers of the Presiding Officer.
What just happened?
The City Council said to the Mayor,
"You preside over us. You have power over us. You control us."
That just destroyed the separation of powers.
That just turned the Mayor into the one man with power and control over everyone else.
Why is everyone tolerating that?
If elected, we will seek to rewrite 30.07 as follows:
(B) The [remove "Mayor" and insert "City Council President"] shall preside over all meetings of the Common Council."
The Mayor is not in charge of the City Council.
The Mayor is an employee of the city.
He should act like one, and should speak only when invited to by the Council.
I may know what I "need", but I have no idea what "you" need.
Only you can decide what you "need".
No individual can claim that they know what 12,000 other people need.
We will not impose what we believe Madison "needs" on 12,000 other people.
Bob Courtney decides how much he wants to spend, then raises your taxes to meet that.
We will start with the current amount of taxes, and then decide how to spend it.
The current City Hall staff do not respond promptly (or at all) to requests for information.
For example, a City Council member told me, "I can't even get a response from the mayor on basic questions anymore".
This is unacceptable.
For example, on 8/17/25, one of us emailed Tanya Burnette (Director of Operations, Primary Department: Parks and Recreation) to request information about the Sunrise Golf Course.
Tanya never replied.
This is unacceptable.
For example, on 8/21/25, one of us emailed Tammy Acosta (Mayor's Assistant) to request information.
Tammy replied, "This requires research, and that is not our responsibility."
We disagree.
It is the government's responsibility to serve its citizens, and it is Tammy's job to do whatever research is necessary to promptly answer citizens' questions.
We will seek to ensure that City Hall staff promptly give you whatever you ask for.
The current City Hall staff do not respond promptly to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
For example, one of us filed a FOIA request on 8/25/2025.
City Hall staff did not respond until 9/30/2025.
We will seek to ensure that City Hall staff promptly give you whatever you ask for, without making you file a FOIA request.
We will not seek every opportunity to take credit for what we do.
We will not have "Mayor (name here)" signs all over the city.
We will not send out emails titled "Madison on the Move".
We will not seek every opportunity to get our names, our quotes, and our photographs in the Madison Courier.
The police department and the fire department risk their lives every day, but
they don't get their names, their quotes, and their photographs in the paper.
The roads department and the trash collection department do their jobs every day, but
they don't get their names, their quotes, and their photographs in the paper.
If they don't, then the Mayor shouldn't.
If they do their job right, then you won't even need to know their names.
Like them, if we do our job right, then you won't even know we're doing it.
We will rename "Mayor's Movies in the Park" to "Movies in the Park".
https://www.madison-in.gov/egov/apps/document/center.egov?view=item&id=171
It's not the Mayor's (or the government's) job to provide entertainment.
We will seek to eliminate all government funding for entertainment events.
It is morally wrong that the government coerces you to pay for what other people use.
Example: The Food and Beverage Tax.
https://www.madison-in.gov/topic/index.php?topicid=174&structureid=18
Who pays the tax?
"The FAB Tax is a 1% sales tax added to food and beverage purchases in certain places.
The tax applies to businesses that sell prepared food and drinks intended for immediate consumption.
That includes meals served in restaurants, takeout orders, fountain drinks, alcoholic beverages, and catered food at events.
Whether customers eat on-site or take their food to go, the business must charge the tax if the product is ready to eat or drink."
Who benefits from the tax?
"A portion of the FAB will be applied toward park maintenance, Main Street Master Planning, and economic development efforts.
A majority will be set aside for capital planning in our City Park and Recreation facilities, primarily Rucker Sports Complex,
Sunrise Golf Course, the Brown Gym, and the City-owned tennis courts known as the Shawe tennis courts."
It is morally wrong that the government coerces people who consume food and beverages, and who might not even reside in Madison,
to pay for what other people use.
If elected, we will seek to eliminate the Food and Beverage tax.
It is not the government's job to provide you with curbside pickup.
If elected, we will seek to outsource curbside pickup to existing private sector for-profit businesses.
Once curbside pickup is no longer part of City Hall,
we will seek to sell any City assets that were used solely for curbside pickup,
and we will seek to eliminate any City employee positions that were filled solely for curbside pickup.
It is not the government's job to provide you with parks and recreation.
If elected, we will seek to outsource parks and recreation to a new private sector non-profit organization.
Please see:
https://cuttingbackcityhall.org/parks-and-recreation
Once parks and recreation is no longer part of City Hall,
we will seek to transfer all City assets and liabilities of parks and recreation to the new non-profit,
and we will seek to eliminate any City employee positions that were filled solely for parks and recreation,
and we will seek to eliminate the Parks Board (https://www.madison-in.gov/department/board.php?structureid=30).
It is not the government's job to provide you with an airport.
If elected, we will seek to outsource the Madison Regional Airport to the private sector.
Once the airport is no longer part of City Hall,
we will seek to transfer all City assets and liabilities of the airport to the private sector,
and we will seek to eliminate any City employee positions that were filled solely for the airport,
and we will seek to eliminate the Aviation Board (https://www.madison-in.gov/department/board.php?structureid=43).
It is not the government's job to provide you with public art.
If elected, we will seek to outsource public art to the private sector.
Once public art is no longer part of City Hall,
we will seek to transfer all City assets and liabilities of public art to the private sector,
and we will seek to eliminate any City employee positions that were filled solely for public art,
and we will seek to eliminate the Public Arts Commission (https://www.madison-in.gov/department/board.php?structureid=30).
It is not the government's job to own real estate.
It was Bob Courtney's asking the City Council to buy the Madison Coal lot that led to a loss and continues to cause a huge problem.
It was Bob Courtney's asking the City Council to buy the Ruler lot that led to a loss.
Please go to our FAQ page:
https://cuttingbackcityhall.org/faqs
and read "What is Bob Courtney and Tony Steinhardt's record of buying and selling real estate?".
If elected, we will identify every piece of real estate owned by the City which does not support a part of City Hall that protects your rights,
and we will seek to auction that piece of property to the private sector.
We will seek to remove all zoning restrictions on such pieces of real estate before the auction,
because zoning restrictions reduce the number of potential bidders,
which will reduce the bids,
which will reduce the selling price.
It is not the government's job to provide you with housing.
It is not the government's job to "develop", to "redevelop", or to "promote and encourage business growth and expansion".
If elected, we will seek to terminate all existing City Hall plans for development or redevelopment,
and we will seek to transfer all City assets and liabilities of development or redevelopment to the private sector,
and we will seek to eliminate any City employee positions that were filled solely for development or redevelopment,
and we will seek to eliminate the Economic Development Commission (https://www.madison-in.gov/department/board.php?structureid=25),
and we will seek to eliminate the Plan Commission (https://www.madison-in.gov/department/board.php?structureid=31),
and we will seek to eliminate the Redevelopment Authority (https://www.madison-in.gov/department/board.php?structureid=137),
and we will seek to eliminate the Redevelopment Commission (https://www.madison-in.gov/department/board.php?structureid=35).
"The First Amendment's Establishment Clause prohibits the government from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion."
This clause not only forbids the government from establishing an official religion,
but also prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another.
It also prohibits the government from unduly preferring religion over non-religion,
or non-religion over religion."
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/establishment_clause
Reciting the Lord's Prayer during a City Council meeting constitutes "unduly favor[ing] one religion over another", hence it should be prohibited.
If elected, we will seek to eliminate the Lord's Prayer from all government communications and activities, beginning with City Council meetings.
The Pledge of Allegiance is a loyalty oath.
You do not start meetings at your place of business with a loyalty oath.
The City Council should not start meetings at its place of business with a loyalty oath.
If elected, we will seek to eliminate the Pledge of Allegiance from all government activities, beginning with City Council meetings.
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