District 6 Candidate Q & A: Scott Thornton

Challenger says Ald. Rummel has failed to lead and communicate with residents

Scott Thornton. Courtesy Scott Thornton for District 6

Scott Thornton. Courtesy Scott Thornton for District 6

Scott B. Thornton, 49, has lived in District 6 since 2000 and Madison since the late 1980s. One of his first jobs in Madison was working for the United Neighborhood Centers of Dane County which had its offices in the Atwood Neighborhood Center and he has been tied to the near East Side neighborhoods ever since.

However Scott has made his strongest impacts as President of the Marquette Neighborhood Association (MNA) for the past four years, nearly quadrupling the membership during his tenure. He also secured tax exempt status and aggressively developed a public art program in conjunction with the Madison Arts Commission that has flowered in public and private spaces around the Marquette neighborhood.

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Central Park Bike-Ped Rail Crossing Approved

Crossing at Few Street should boost City’s plans for park

The $14 million Central Park will feature trails, structures and amenities designed with Madison’s cultural, natural, and industrial traditions in mind. It will now also include a Bike-Ped rail crossing at Few Street (Right).

While at least one street crossing over the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad tracks through the near-east rail corridor is likely to be closed; another is opening. The City of Madison has successfully petitioned the Wisconsin Railroad Commission to open a pedestrian and bike crossing at Few Street.

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La Fete de Marquette is Magnifique

Four day music festival growing with style

La Fete de Marquette, July 12-15, 2012 in the Marquette Neighborhood.

The seventh annual La Fete de Marquette, celebrating French music and culture, begins today (July 12) at the corner of South Dickinson and East Main Streets. While Pere Marquette did traipse through these lands in the 1600s (see Portage, Wisconsin), the relative lack of a historical French connection to the Marquette neighborhood will not stop them from holding a really cool party for Bastille Day.

The free four-day event is one of the “Big Four” Marquette neighborhood summer festivals and is a fundraiser for the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center.

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