Will Hammes Sponsor the New Urbanism Convention?

Mayor Dave is seeking an opinion from the city Ethics Board regarding whether it is appropriate for him to send out letters soliciting sponsors for a possible convention of the Congress for the New Urbanism. Madison needs to raise about $280,000 toward convention costs if it wishes to host. City Attorney Mike May pointed out a potential pitfall of having elected officials raise money for outside organizations: "One concern is that business entities wishing to ingratiate themselves may be driven to make contributions."

Now might be a good time for Mayor Dave to call in a favor from the Hammes Co. After all, he's already done as much as he possibly could to aid their Edgewater development proposal, so no one can accuse him of granting favors in exchange for sponsorship of his pet cause.