Community Update from Mayor Rhodes-Conway (August 2)

For Immediate Release
August 2, 2026

"I want to thank the Madison community for their patience as we work to reopen the intersection of Williamson Street and Baldwin Street, while also ensuring that those who want to visit a memorial will have space to do so. City of Madison staff and community partners have been actively delivering the message that the best path forward is for the occupation to end peacefully so the real work of healing the community and enacting change can begin.

There is real harm being done to local businesses and residents in the Marquette Neighborhood. We are hearing from neighbors who are losing income and even jobs, and who will not be able to make rent. We are hearing from employees who are being laid off and businesses that are on the verge of closing permanently. Those who are dismissing or downplaying these concerns are not helping to advance a just cause; they are dividing our city at a time when we need to come together more than ever.

The group gathering at the intersection is increasingly made up of people who are experiencing homelessness. In the past week, local elected officials, City staff, and partners have taken numerous steps to help facilitate a smooth and peaceful transition of this space. The Dane County Behavioral Resource Center and other mental health organizations have provided crisis counseling on site. Every day, the City's Community Development Division has worked closely with City-contracted street outreach agencies and others on site to identify and connect with vulnerable unsheltered persons at the site. City resources have been made available to the agencies to allow them to secure short-term hotel accommodations for about 25-30 people, including 4-5 families with children. Some people have declined those offers. This weekend, staff have delivered meals to folks in hotels and are coordinating with community groups to ensure that meals continue to be delivered. This is work that the City does year round to support people experiencing homelessness - to learn more about that work please visit this site.

What the City has NOT done is to supply porta-potties, dumpsters, or financial support to the occupation effort. Any assertions to the contrary are false and are among the many rumors and misinformation circulating online.

There are simple next steps that will ensure a peaceful and collaborative end to the occupation:

• Proactively removing the barricades and personal vehicles blocking the streets. Tow notices have been given to those vehicles and will be acted upon.
• Relocating memorial items so that they can be preserved while allowing traffic to move through the intersection. The City can supply a barrier setup to accomplish this goal.
• Ending food preparation in the intersection, and reimagining how grassroots mutual aid can operate at a safer location that doesn't cause further harm to the very people it is intended to serve.

As a city and country, we have much more work to do in addressing the systemic issues highlighted by this occupation - but it is also important to recognize that we have a foundation to build on in our community. In the past few years, Madison has launched and expanded an alternative to police calls through the CARES program. We've added hundreds of homes through social housing and helped build thousands of affordable homes through the private market, and will continue to do so in the upcoming years. Through our partnership with Dane County, Madison is making historic investments in homeless services and opening the very first purpose-built men's shelter in Wisconsin. Madison pioneered community policing and now we need to perfect community oversight of the police, while also acknowledging the constraints placed on local communities by the state. The City has worked and will work cooperatively with individuals, nonprofits, the faith community, and anyone who is acting in good faith to ensure a peaceful resolution is reached, and reached soon.

But I want to make it very clear: the occupation of Williamson Street and Baldwin Street needs to end now."

- Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway