Associated Students of Madison Chair Emily McWilliams met with Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz Thursday to request changing the date of the Mifflin Street Block Party.
McWilliams met with the mayor because she said the city needs to address the problem, which she believes is an error on its part, by changing the date.
“The mayor’s office and police are responsible for the scheduling error,” McWilliams said.
But McWilliams added that the rescheduling of the party is more a problem with the police than the mayor.
“The police are standing in the way,” McWilliams said.
She said the police told the mayor if the date was changed, the police wanted concessions for the inconvenience.
The City of Madison scheduled police for the party last fall in accordance with the traditional date of the first Saturday in May. However, this year that date, May 7, falls on the official study day for University of Wisconsin students. For this reason, McWilliams is pushing for the date to be officially changed to April 30. She added the city’s so-called “error” seemed convenient for them because fewer students will show up on that day, possibly eliminating potential problems.
However, according to Cieslewicz spokesman George Twigg, the cost of moving the date would be close to an additional $80,000 or $90,000 on top of what the city has already spent.
“It’s just not in the best interest to the city as a whole,” Twigg said. “If the vast majority cooperate and party on the traditional date, we can bring that number down.”
Twigg said money would be better spent on other worthy causes in the city, such as parks. He encouraged students to consider the current tight city budget and to attend the event scheduled May 7.
McWilliams said despite the extra costs, students are not going to party on that day because of finals. She added she has spoken to about 100 constituents of UW, and each person has told her he or she will attend the event April 30.
“Students are going to [attend Mifflin] on the 30th anyway,” McWilliams said.
Twigg said students should realize Mifflin has always received special treatment from the police because they are willing to overlook noise ordinances and glass bottles on the street for the first Saturday in May.
“There’s no place in the entire city where you can have a block party and close down the street without a permit,” Twigg said.
He added if students decide to party April 30, police will not be as lenient.
“Clearly nobody saw this coming,” Twigg said. “It got by everybody, and we all have to share the responsibility.”