At just 23, District 14 Alder candidate Jose Rea may not have as much experience organizing in the district as incumbent Sherri Carter, but he believes as a product of Madison south side he can best represent the community that made him.
“The biggest thing I want my south side community to know is that I’m really a product of everything the south side has to offer,” said Rea. “I’m a part of the community and the community has served me well.”
Rea’s campaign platform primarily focuses on the economic development and self-sustainability of the south side, which he believes can affect other areas such racial justice, homelessness, and LGBTQ issues.
“There’s not a lot of economic development that happened in this district,” said Rea. “Even after I went off to college and I came back and saw development in other parts of the community, it really saddens me that my community is still not receiving those resources and the people that I grew up with are still struggling to get by.”
Rea intends to bring what he calls “anchor” institutions and businesses to the district, such as hospitals and colleges and universities, that can invest in the community’s local businesses.
“I want to be able to pair our local businesses of color and marginalized business leaders with special financing programs and making sure the development continues within our own community,” said Rea. “I’m not opposed to outside development, but I am opposed to majority outside development, I want to see our on neighbors be able to build within our district so we can continue to do a redistribution of wealth.”
Last May he released a statement publicly supporting Madison College’s decision to leave its downtown campus and expand efforts for its South Campus located in the 14th district, a decision Carter opposed.
“Voting in favor of this plan will allow underserved community members to have access to higher education programming that will allow our citizens to be prepared for the new age job market,” stated Rea.
Rea also opposed the Mayor Paul Soglin’s controversial panhandling ordinance, which passed in February prohibiting panhandling at most city intersections. Rea said the ordinance, which Carter voted for citing safety concerns, “criminalizes homelessness.”
“Giving a ticket to someone who is already having problems paying their current bills or doesn’t have enough money to eat or pay rent is a slap in the face,” said Rea. “If we were to properly fund and actually mobilize our community to start supporting the homeless, a lot more we would see a decline in homelessness.”
Economic investment and financial uplift aren’t Rea’s only goals; he also hopes to make the most of the district’s diversity, a reflection of his own personal intersectional identity as a low-income, gay, Latinx man.
“We are in the 53713 zip code and with that we are the most diverse zip code in the entire state of Wisconsin and I think we can thrive off of that,” said Rea. “I shape my platform to want to stand up for everyone who’s different just like me, who experiences life in many different ways just as I experience life.”
Ultimately, Rea said his goal is to create a more inclusive environment in a diverse district by increasing representation for the Hmong community, a population Rea says is overlooked, by partnering with the Hmong 18 Council.
“I want to open up the realm of governance to a whole section of our population that a lot of times goes unnoticed or unasked as to what resources they’re looking for in the same communities we’re all living in,” said Rae.
“I just want to help [Madison] grow a lot more and show the many different aspect of each individual, because I think intersectionality is important and I think representing that is one of the biggest things I want to do.”
The election is Tuesday, April 4. Alder Sherri Carter did not return calls and emails requesting an interview.
