Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is ready for battle. He tried to stop it after last year's "melee," forcefully stating, "We had up until this point, we've said we're going to welcome this event. In a way it's going to be part of the fabric of Madison … no more." That plan has failed, as around 75,000 intoxicated, costumed partiers will invade the downtown area in an annual beer blast like no other in the country: Madison's infamous Halloween celebration.
The mayor, certain local officials and a number of media outlets have been beating the drum all year long about the upcoming event for political and sensationalistic reasons; redefining what it means to fear monger in a way that would make Stephen King proud.
Mr. Cieslewicz has threatened to use his mayoral power to invoke martial law in the city, forcing all downtown bars to close at his discretion. The mayor's undiplomatic threat comes after many bar owners are upset over the recent smoking ban's damaging economic effects on their businesses. Dane County Tavern League president and bar owner Barb Mercer told the Wisconsin State Journal that she would not comply with the mayor's request to close the bars early: "This is not going to happen. This is an industry that has been beaten up, sat on, chewed up and spit out. I'm angry."
Of course, the mayor probably didn't take into consideration that if people don't drink at the bars, they usually go to a less safe, unregulated house party to do a few keg stands. It's kind of like how the 2002-2003 downtown drink special ban was supposed to reduce crime, but actually resulted in a 35.6 percent increase in police calls for disorderly conduct.
I still remember watching CNN the day after the 2002 Halloween riots. "Mayhem in Madison" flashed across the bottom of the screen as a handful of looters were shown, not ironically, stealing more alcohol from State Street Liquor. If you just read the sensationalized headlines or listened to the local television reports, you would have thought that every Halloween following had turned Madison's downtown into some sort of Fallujah-like terrorist hotbed for the final weekend in October.
The truth is, out of the tens of thousands of Halloween revelers that embark on downtown each year, the violence, destruction and mayhem has been way overblown. Consider this: in 2003, police reported 350 alcohol-related offenses and in 2004, a total of 458 citations were given, mostly to out of town partygoers. Last year, with an estimated 75,000 alcohol-filled adults, the number of citations issued amounted to a measly 0.6 percent of the total crowd.
Over the past year, there has been talk of every extreme measure from completely closing down the city to restricting access to downtown by quarantining the area through police enforcement. The University of Wisconsin has even succumbed to the fear tactics by instituting a ban on guests in the dorms from Friday, Oct. 28 through Tuesday, Nov. 1. I guess the UW's contribution to making the city "safer" is having out of town guests roam the streets all night long in a drunken stupor even after the rest of the partiers head home.
I refuse to accept the premise of the argument that says Madison turns into "Mayhem" every Halloween. Sure, there are always a handful of drunken idiots who cause problems. Arrest those people, fine them and throw them in jail. For the rest of us, stop the fear mongering! This isn't some sleepy suburb of Salt Lake City where the most trouble ever caused is a verbal disagreement over who was the first to shout "Bingo" at the annual block party.
Evoking martial law on Halloween is as ridiculous as bringing in an armed National Guard for a home football game to control the belligerent drunks. The truth is that Halloween is a part of the fabric of Madison, just like the Mifflin Street Block Party and UW football games. It's a tradition that students look forward to and that (some) remember as a part of their college careers.
The negativity and fear mongering surrounding the event is patently absurd and exaggerated. There will undoubtedly be some violence and fighting caused by a few people who think that their manhood is somehow enhanced by irrational, testosterone-induced physical confrontations. However, most people remain civil, and their biggest problem is going to be the next morning's hangover. They are simply out to have a good time and party with their friends. I'm looking forward to yet another successful Halloween weekend in Madison this year.
Casey Hoff ([email protected]) is a UW student and host of "New Ground with Casey Hoff," live Monday through Friday, 9-11 a.m., on Madison 1670 The Pulse.
