MADSION, Wis. -- At a busy Madison Common Council meeting on Tuesday night, council members voted to make the plastic pink flamingo the official city bird.

At Tuesday night's meeting, the mayor introduced his proposed capital budget and council members discussed funding for the plastic bag recycling program.

The new mascot was debated for five minutes, and then the Common Council voted 15-4 to make the plastic pink flamingo the official city bird.

The idea was by a 1979 prank on Bascom Hill when the Pail and Shovel Party on campus put out 1,008 of the birds.

"It sure lives in Madison lore as a really fun thing," said Wisconsin State Journal writer Doug Moe.

Moe proposed the idea in a column, and Alder Marsha Rummel brought it to the council.

"Let Madison have a little fun and laugh at itself. We've always been pretty good at that. I might suggest in these so-called tough times, a little laughter is not a bad thing," Moe said.

Not everyone embraced the idea of voting on the plastic flamingo.

"I respectfully ask for this City Council to devote more time to more serious business at hand," said Alder Thuy Pham-Remmele, of District 20.

But Rummel defended bringing the proposal to the council.

"We are capable of multitasking in life, and if you don't have a little fun, it's not worth living, and I spent like 20 minutes on this since April," Rummel said.

Others on the council were OK with the idea if it were only for one day or one week a year, but no the whole year. In the end, they didn't get their way.

The Common Council on Tuesday also heard from Mayor Dave Cieslewicz Tuesday as he shared his plans for the capital budget.

Public safety is a big feature in the proposed budget. Another key topic is improving the quality of life and neighborhoods in the city.

The budget proposed about $35 million for repairing and improving streets and transportation. The budget also focuses on economic development, including tax incremental funding for the Edgewater Hotel redevelopment, which will likely prove to be a contentious issue.

The council also needs to plan for new recycling programs for plastic bags.

In June, the council passed a ban on throwing away clean plastic bags. City officials estimate that 75 million plastic bags are used every year and only a few are recycled.

Council members on Tuesday moved the plan forward and have agreed to establish 13 collection sites.