Mayoral Heads Up

A couple of years ago on March 21, 2007, I wrote to my friends in Madison informing them I would be visiting. As an act of pure silliness, I cc'd the mayor of Madison, Dave Cieslewicz. Here is the text of that email:

I just thought I'd let you know I'll be in Madison at the end of May. I'll probably arrive the afternoon/evening of Sunday 5/27 and will depart the afternoon of Wednesday 5/30. Plane tickets have been bought. Cars have been reserved. Mayors have been informed. (Keep up the good work, Dave!) Hopefully there'll be less snow than the last Memorial Day I spent in Madison. In any case I look forward to seeing you all!

Warmest Regards,
Doug Devine
UW Alumnus and Greenbush Homeowner

The subject line of the email was "Doug + Madison = Fun".

One day later one of my friends replied to the note, implying her sister and I should spend some time together. Here is the text of that note:

Doug + Madison + my sister (aka "I don't think you're ready for this jelly") = a good reason for the rest of us to go out drinking and leave you two alone. ;-)

Anywho... we are definitely looking forward to seeing you!

The kicker to this note is that she replied to *all*, including the mayor. We all laughed heartily at this oversight and no harm was done.

Fast forward to yesterday, I once again sent a note to my friends in Madison informing them I will be visiting. And once again I included the mayor in the note. This time I put him in the to: field and directed the note more to him.

Greetings Mayor Dave,

I am once again returning to your fine city. You see, I graduated from the University of Wisconsin and some of my favorite people on Earth currently live there. I own a house on S. Randall and would one day like to live there again. Has Madison reached its limit for chiropractors? I hope not, as I will be one in the near future and would like to guide the fine people of the state capital to great health. Do you have a chiropractor? I know a great one. (Hint: me! Eventually.)

I look forward to engulfing myself in Madison and anxiously await your confirmation of my visit. (My flight lands in Madison at 2:31pm on August 17th. Can you pick me up?)

Warmest Regards,
Doug Devine
UW Alumnus and Greenbush Homeowner

I got a little sillier this time, going all Letters From Nuts on him. I was giggling authoring the note and my friends got a kick out of it too. I didn't expect anything else to come of it but today I received an official response from the mayor's office:

Hello Doug,

Thank you for contacting Mayor Cieslewicz regarding your arrival this Monday, August 17. Welcome Back! Unfortunately, your ETA coincides with the Mayor’s Operating Budget Meeting, so he is unable to pick you up from the airport.

We hope you enjoy your visit.

Sincerely,
Connie

Connie J. Phair
Office of Mayor Dave Cieslewicz
210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Room 403
Madison, WI 53703-3345
(608) 267-1974 (direct)
(608) 267-8671 (fax)
(608) 266-4611 (Mayor's Office)
(866) 704-2340 (TTY)
cphair@cityofmadison.com

No way! How cool is that for the mayor's office to indulge my rambling? Mayor Dave has my vote for anything. Connie, too, for that matter...if she ever decides to participate in an election as a candidate or anything else requiring people to vote for her (eg, Hall of Fame, Homecoming Queen, American Idol, etc.)