Here & Now

Gubernatorial Candidate Paul Soglin on Jobs, Schools, Roads

Frederica Freyberg:

This week Madison mayor Paul Soglin became the latest Democratic candidate to announce his run for governor. Soglin has served 20 years as Madison's mayor over three different stints of time, starting with his first term in 1973. Soglin is an attorney and former fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Mayor Soglin joins us now. Thanks for being here.

Paul Soglin:

Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

What sets you apart from the other candidates?

Paul Soglin:

Probably the fact that I've got 25 years experience in the private sector, owning my own successful businesses, and time at one of the largest technology companies not just in Wisconsin, but the U.S., where I held an important administrative position, and over 20 as mayor of the city of Madison. So I've had the opportunity both in the public and the private sector to work on difficult, challenging problems and get solutions. Identify a need for housing and then putting a program that gets us thousands of units of new housing built at all income levels, look at the challenges that we see in regards to communication and transportation and build those kinds of networks and bring them in within budget.

Frederica Freyberg:

Right out of the chutes, the Scott Walker campaign came out against you tweeting, “The last thing we need is more Madison in our lives. Paul Soglin is the latest extreme liberal who wants to take our state backward.” What’s your reaction to that?

Paul Soglin:

Basically he’s ungrateful and deceitful. Let’s just take the employment numbers, whether we measure them by unemployment, we measure them by job creation. Wisconsin needs Madison. Madison needs Wisconsin. The city of Madison and the Dane County region have created more jobs. We are the ones that are leading in unemployment. We are making Scott Walker look good. And it’s about time he acknowledged what limited success he’s had comes from our region. At the same time, no one expects Mineral Point, Rice Lake, Green Bay to become like Madison. But we’ve all got common problems, common problems in terms of transportation, in terms of schools, in terms of solving the problems of the day.

Frederica Freyberg:

So how do you transposes the successes of Madison statewide, growing good-paying jobs, for example?

Paul Soglin:

Well, it’s making wise investment. I means working in conjunction with the private sector. Let me just say that a concept is fine. Each individual project has to be evaluated on its own. The decision on Foxconn is a disaster. The decision is too costly. It doesn’t give us enough protections as the public. The money could be more wisely spent on investment in small businesses and entrepreneurship around the rest of the state. The key to all of this is understanding that government is to provide health and safety and to work with the private sector in opening up opportunities.

Frederica Freyberg:

What's the best way, in your mind, to support Wisconsin's education system?

Paul Soglin:

Well, we do need more money, more revenues. We are going to have to put more into primary and secondary education. We’re going to have to make a greater commitment to the university system. You look at our towns, our villages, our communities, they are only as strong as their public schools. We can have a debate till the cows come home about whether or not we should have choice and voucher and all of that. We’ve all got our own different opinions. But no matter what your feeling is, there must be strong public schools.

Frederica Freyberg:

Where would you find a sustainable funding for Wisconsin's highways and roads?

Paul Soglin:

Well, we had an opportunity and we still do while gas prices are low to raise the gas tax. I mean, it’s just ludicrous that we don’t take a revenue stream like that, which is a modest increase, and then use it for further investment. Our road system was a response to the dairy industry. 100 years ago, we had to get fresh milk to market. And it meant investing in town and county roads. It meant investing in state highways. Those roads have now made a great economy for Wisconsin, from manufacturing to the tourist industry. We cannot turn our back on any county in the state and we have to understand, make that investment in those roads and then we will get a larger tax base, we will create more jobs and it’s wise. Monona Terrace is a perfect example of that kind of investment.

Frederica Freyberg:

Let me ask you this. Why do you think you can unseat Scott Walker?

Paul Soglin:

Well, when we had a discussion in March and April about the possibility of running for governor, I asked Sarah what she thought about it. And she simply said, you can run, but you have to win. Well, I went about raising some money to do a poll. And we did a poll. Paul Maslin did it, who recently successfully completed the Jones' Senate campaign in Alabama, and the poll says I can win.

Frederica Freyberg:

We leave it there. Paul Soglin, thanks very much.