NEWS
ASM representatives talk to mayor regarding party
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Also by Natalie Rhoads:
- Wiley, ASM square off on recruiters (April 21, 2005)
- Mayor: Mifflin to be held April 30 (April 22, 2005)
- Judge clears Leckrone (April 25, 2005)
- Suspect takes UW Senior's pocketbook at knifepoint (April 25, 2005)
- SOAR to implement diversity educaiton (April 26, 2005)
Related Stories:
- Council finalizes block party date (March 8, 2006)
- Mayor: Mifflin to be held April 30 (April 22, 2005)
- ASM chair, mayor bicker about party (April 8, 2005)
- Madison police on call for potential 2nd Mifflin Street bash (May 5, 2005)
- Mayor speaks of campus issues (February 24, 2005)
by Natalie Rhoads
Monday, April 18, 2005
Associated Students of Madison representatives, Mifflin Street residents and other University of Wisconsin students met with Mayor Dave Cieslewicz Friday to further discuss the controversy surrounding the date of the Mifflin Street Block Party.
Students again met with Cieslewicz to further encourage him to consider April 30 the day of the block party, after the mayor rejected the proposal due to costs during a previous meeting with students April 7.
In the meeting, which lasted more than an hour, the students told the mayor that despite the Madison police and city efforts to push the date of May 7 — UW’s official study date — students are going to party on April 30.
ASM member and Mifflin Street resident Janell Wise said they are under the impression that the majority of students want the party the last weekend of April and the mayor and his constituents are going to have to face this reality.
“It is just foolish for the police and the city to shove this May 7 down our throats,” Wise said.
But in a statement issued April 12, the Madison Police Department said the proposal to change the date was raised far too late in the planning process.
“We have already made extensive commitments for the May 7 date that cannot be undone at this point,” the department said in the statement. “To do so would create excessive additional costs for the city of Madison.”
The MPD also noted that although it is willing to overlook excessive noise for the May date, “amplified music outside of this designated period (including April 30) will be subject to applicable noise ordinances.”
UW junior and Mifflin Street resident Jeremiah Born attended Friday’s meeting and said the group of students informed the mayor that “regardless of what date the city and the mayor endorse, there is going to be a party on the 30th anyways.”
Which means, Born said, the city would end up spending money for two days anyway.
The mayor’s spokesperson George Twigg said Friday’s meeting was productive and Cieslewicz’s office would continue to communicate with the students.
“We’re going to do our best to see if there is way out of the situation that both the city and the students would find acceptable,” Twigg said.
Born also said the students explained to the mayor that students and Mifflin residents feel they have been left out of the decision-making process surrounding the party, which could lead to an aggressive crowd.
“Lack of cooperation is exactly what would lead to a Halloween-type situation,” Born said.
Twigg said it is hard to predict what may happen; however, the safety of partygoers is the first priority.
“We are all going to keep working towards a solution,” Twigg said.
Born said he is going to wait to hear what the mayor’s decision is before planning a party at his own Mifflin residence in fear of receiving expensive tickets.
