City services and civic life in Madison: alders, meetings, service requests and neighborhood groups

Find your alder

Madison is divided into 20 aldermanic districts, and each has an alder on the Common Council. The city's Common Council contact page and its district maps page both link to a Find my alder tool, and the maps page also offers an interactive map and downloadable PDF maps of every district and ward. Look up your address rather than guessing from your neighborhood name.

To contact an alder, use the city's online contact form, where you can pick a district, all alders or Council staff. You can also email allalders@cityofmadison.com or council@cityofmadison.com, call the Council office at 608-266-4071, or write to the Common Council Office, City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Room 505, Madison, WI 53703.

How Common Council meetings work

According to the city, the Common Council generally meets twice a month on Tuesdays, starting at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are held in person at the City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Room 201, and the city's participation page says people can take part in person or virtually. Check the Common Council page for the next dates.

Agendas are linked from the Upcoming Meetings table on the Common Council page. For legislation and records, the city points to madison.legistar.com.

Speaking or commenting at a meeting

If you want to speak, or register your position on an item, you must register for public comment on the city's Meeting Registration page. The form for committee meetings asks you to:

1. Pick the meeting from a dropdown.
2. Enter the agenda item number (each meeting's agenda is linked from the form).
3. Say whether you support, oppose or are neutral on the item.
4. Say whether you want to speak, don't want to speak, or are available to answer questions.
5. Say whether you represent another person or organization.
6. Give your name and address and an email address, which the city uses to send joining instructions.

The form needs JavaScript. If you can't use it, the city says to email webadmin@cityofmadison.com with your information.

Written comments for the Common Council can go to AllAlders@cityofmadison.com, through the Council contact form, or on paper (the city asks for 20 copies to the Council office). The city asks for comments by noon on the day of the meeting, and says staff can't guarantee later ones will reach the Council before it starts. You can also write to your own alder. The pages we checked list no speaking time limits or registration deadline, so confirm on the meeting's agenda.

Watching meetings and finding recordings

The city's Watch Meetings Online page lists upcoming meetings, each with a Watch Online link, and says it will carry them live. Past meetings are archived on Madison City Channel, the city's video platform. Common Council and Plan Commission links go to the Madison City Channel stream. The Meeting Schedule page lists committee meetings by date, shows whether each is virtual or in a room, and offers email updates.

To ask for interpretation, translation or accommodations at any committee meeting, use the contact information on that meeting's page or agenda. The city recommends asking well ahead, but doesn't state a minimum notice period. See also our accessibility guide.

Serving on a board, commission or committee

The city's directory of boards, commissions and committees lists roughly 140 bodies. Positions are open to Madison residents. Per the city's application page, the steps are:

1. Browse the committee list and check Current Vacancies (posted on Legistar).
2. Check each committee's meeting schedule to confirm you can attend.
3. Complete the Committee Application and email it to the Mayor's Office.
4. File the Statement of Interests form with the City Clerk's Office, which nominees must do before their name goes to the Common Council.

The page says applications stay on file in the Mayor's Office and are reviewed as vacancies come up.

Report a Problem: potholes, streetlights, graffiti and more

Report a Problem is the city's online service for non-emergency issues. For an emergency, call 911. For a water emergency, Madison Water Utility lists (608) 266-4665, answered around the clock. The categories the city lists include:

• Roads and transportation: potholes, street lights, traffic signals and signs, sidewalks, bikeways, snow and ice, parking and traffic enforcement.
• Waste and recycling: trash, recycling, yard waste, brush and carts. See our trash and recycling guide.
• Property and environment: graffiti, weeds, tree concerns, abandoned vehicles, illegal dumping.
• Utilities: drinking water, sanitary sewer backups.
• Other: animals, Metro Transit feedback, civil rights questions and general requests.

Some issues go by phone instead. For traffic signals, street lights and signs the city lists 608-266-4767 during business hours. Out-of-order signals and missing Stop or Yield signs after hours go to 911. The city also has a short form for general comments or information requests; it doesn't state a response time, so if you need a person, ask your alder.

Neighborhood associations

The city keeps an alphabetical directory of recognized neighborhood organizations, with contact details and meeting information for each. To find yours, enter your address in the city's online mapping tool, or click a group's name to see its area. Associations can update their listings through an online form.

Confirm meeting times with the group. Our neighborhoods guide describes the areas themselves.

Dane County Board of Supervisors

County government is separate from the city. The Dane County Board has 37 supervisors, each representing one county district. Use the Find My Supervisor link on the board's website, or browse the supervisor directory, which lists all 37 districts in order. To reach every supervisor, email County_Board_Recipients@danecounty.gov with your name and mailing address.

The board meets on the first and third Thursday of most months at 7 p.m., unless noted, in Room 201 of the City-County Building. Agendas are on the county's Legistar site, dane.legistar.com. Meetings are streamed through Madison City Channel. To speak, the county strongly encourages registering online at least 30 minutes before the start, and paper comment forms are available in person. Remote speakers register through the link on the agenda; committees have their own steps.