If we trust our voters — and we do — trust them with more candidates.
The City of Middleton is the largest community in MCPASD. We hold the largest share of voters. We turn out every spring to elect the school board. We've earned good board members because our neighbors made good choices.
So here's the question this petition asks: if we trust our voters to choose well from a small slate, why wouldn't we trust them to choose well from a bigger one? Same voters. Same election. Just more candidates allowed on the ballot.
The positive case — three things to say first
- More candidates, not fewer. Today, our school board races are routinely uncontested — every spring primary since 2021 has been cancelled for lack of opposition. That's six straight years where City of Middleton voters didn't get to actually choose. Opening 4 of the 9 seats means real choices on real ballots.
- No artificial restrictions on who can serve. The current rules say a great City of Middleton candidate can only run when their specific Area's seat is open. That's an arbitrary clock. Open seats means the strongest community-minded people in our city — and across the district — can step forward whenever a seat opens.
- Have faith in our voters. Every seat on the board, today and under this plan, is elected by the whole district — including all City of Middleton voters. We don't lose any influence; we just give our voters more choices. If we believe in our voters (and we do — that's why we vote), we should trust them with the bigger ballot.
MCPASD's seat structure has not changed since 1963 — when Middleton and Cross Plains merged to form one district. We are the first generation of City of Middleton voters asked if we want to update it.
Why this isn't a loss for the City of Middleton
"The City of Middleton currently has four of nine board seats reserved by address. Won't we lose representation if those become open?"
1. Every Area still has an anchor — including ours.
The City of Middleton keeps a permanent guaranteed seat. So do the other four Areas. That's the baseline floor; everyone has a voice tied to where they live, by law.
2. The remaining four seats compete district-wide.
City of Middleton candidates can run for any of the four open seats — and so can residents of every other Area. Our voters help elect all of them. With the largest voter base, our preferences are heavily weighted in those races, by design.
3. "Reserved" doesn't mean "won."
Four reserved seats only mattered if City of Middleton residents actually ran for them. With every primary cancelled for six straight years, our reserved seats have produced no contested election recently. That's not power; that's a deadlock.
4. More candidates is good for everyone — including us.
The deeper the bench, the better the board. The better the board, the better the schools. The better the schools, the better the city. That logic favors widening the candidate pool, not protecting empty reserved slots.
The democratic argument, in one breath
We trust City of Middleton voters every other Tuesday in spring. We don't add training wheels to the ballot — we put real choices on it and trust our community to pick. That's the spirit of this petition. Don't restrict who can run. Trust the voters to decide.
If you believe in democracy at the local level — and the City of Middleton has shown again and again that we do — then artificial address-based restrictions on who can be on the ballot don't deserve our protection. The bigger ballot is the more democratic ballot.
Sign by Aug 20. Show up Sept 22.
Wisconsin law requires a pen-and-paper signature on the official sheet. Download → print → sign → mail (or have us pick it up).
Then mark your calendar for the MCPASD Annual Meeting — Tuesday, September 22 at 7 PM, District Services Center, 7106 South Ave, Middleton. Only people in the room can vote on the petition.
Sign by Thu, Aug 20 · Vote Tue, Sept 22, 7 PM