This is the first part of a series profiling city leaders.

As October ends, Ald. Austin King, District 8, is not only working hard on his Halloween costume, but is also helping to prepare a safe celebration and guarantee parties for years to come.

For the past two and a half years, King has worked alongside University of Wisconsin students, his constituents in District 8, to protect their rights and interests. This year, King has worked hard with other city officials and students to ensure that Madison's preparation for the event is not insufficient.

King said he believes the issue surrounding disturbances on State Street last year was simply a lack of communication between police and revelers.

"If police do need to shut down the street, it ought to be made very clear to people on the street," King said. "Last year, a lot of people just didn't know."

This year, lights will be on all night on the street and the sound system will be better for public address, in addition to a revamped system to control pedestrian traffic.

Revelers will not be able to enter State Street from Frances Street but they will be able to exit. The Madison Police Department expects this to help alleviate crowding of the Frances Street intersection experienced in past years.

King said he is doing everything in his power to prevent City Hall from shutting down future Halloween celebrations, which Mayor Dave Cieslewicz threatened to do following last year's fire and police involvement.

He even jokes that this year for Halloween he is going as a fireman.

"If they start a bonfire on State Street again, I'm just going to take out the extinguisher and put out fires if I need to," King said. "It's kind of a dual purpose."

Though city officials are taking action to guarantee a safe celebration, King said student involvement is still absolutely crucial to the success of Halloween. Students need to work together to change the culture of the event, he added.

"Yes, lights, speakers, and removing bike racks will make some difference," King said. "But what we need is for the culture of the event to be reclaimed as a peaceful and hilarious celebration of costumes."

UW student Brandon Roeder said he agrees with King's opinion that no matter how much the city does to limit the chaos, the only way to change the event is through students' commitment to safety.

"I will get involved with government if it means saving Halloween," Roeder said. "I think we need to save the fun aspect and the humor and tone down the partying and destruction."

According to King, student involvement with government should not stop at Halloween. Students have the potential to hold a lot of power in city government, he added.

However, King said issues like minimum wage and affordable housing, which are crucial to student life, show hardly any student involvement.

Roeder said students feel intimidated by the idea of working with adults in the city government.

"I don't know if I would feel comfortable getting involved with Madison's government," Roeder said. "Maybe if there were more people my age doing it I would."