Marsha Rummel served on the Madison City Council from 2007-2021, representing one of the city’s most left-wing districts. Along with her Council allies in Progressive Dane, the independent party she helped found in 1992, she updated local Tax Incremental Financing rules to make the process more accountable, worked to increase funding for affordable housing projects and expanded the grant program to include nonprofit and coop developers. She helped review the Madison’s community policing model after a series of officer-involved shootings. This eventually led to the Council’s adoption of an Independent Monitor and creation of a Civilian Oversight Review Board.
Rummel continues to be involved in neighborhood projects that focus on building community power. She is a member of Solidarity and an Against the Current advisory editor.
Out of the Two-Party Trap
Against the Current, No. 222, January/February 2023
The Unnatural Fate of the Forest
Against the Current, No. 26, May/June 1990