On Wednesday night in front of a crowd of about 40 people, many of them from the north side, Munoz offered to sell Cieslewicz "some more swamp land and perhaps a bridge."

Oh no he di'nt! Peter Munoz did not just call the Cherokee Marsh a swamp!

Dorothy Wheeler to the rescue!Dorothy Wheeler, who represents the area encompassing Cherokee Marsh on the Dane County Board and is a member of the advocacy group Friends of Cherokee Marsh, said this morning she simply does not agree with Munoz about the value of the purchase. She said that in order to keep all Madison lakes clean, the marsh needs to be protected and restored, and the city's parks department would do this.

Wheeler also argues that even though the marsh cannot be built on right now, as land becomes scarcer, legislation could be changed. She recalled that in the late 1950s and early 1960s the first parts of Cherokee were developed by draining part of the marsh and dredging more of it to create Cherokee Lake. The filtering of runoff from the marsh is critical to the health of the Yahara chain of lakes, she concluded.


Munoz should just quit now and hopefully get his job back. He has just lost the North Side and any environmentalist in the entire city.

Did I mention how much I heart Dorothy?

Stay warm Sconnies!