After every Halloween since 2003, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz has openly thrown around the idea of closing Madison's downtown area to protect citizens and maintain the city's order.

Wisconsin statute provides Cieslewicz the power, if he sees fit, to declare a state of emergency and act in the best interest of the municipality of Madison. If a situation, like Halloween, warranted the mayor to call a state of emergency, he would essentially be declaring "martial law."

Cieslewicz has maintained that, despite the chaotic events of past Halloween events and the general unrest of citizens with regard to the unofficial celebration, a declaration of martial law would require an impossible set of circumstances.

"I don't think we're anywhere near the point where I have to declare a state of emergency," he said. "If people are suffering serious injuries or being killed as a result of the event, then that's a totally different ball game."

If a state of emergency were declared in Madison, it would not be so militaristic, but would involve shutting down the entire downtown.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, whose district encompasses State Street and much of the downtown, explained the two "emergency options" Cieslewicz would have the potential to exercise.

Cieslewicz could enact martial law in advance. If he were to do so, Verveer said it would be prudent for the mayor to seek the approval of the Common Council. The second scenario would involve the mayor acting independently of the council, and would likely only come about if the circumstances on Saturday required extreme action.

In either case, no businesses would be open. Citizens and visitors would certainly not have access to restaurants and bars, nor grocery stores and pharmacies. Verveer said such a hypothetical situation would be completely chaotic.

"It would be an utter disaster," Verveer said. "I think it would be a tremendous mistake for the city to exercise its emergency powers. It's just an extremely unnecessary tactic to employ to get a handle on this event. Because the mayor simply couldn't discriminate by types of businesses, he would have to shut down every business in the area."

For downtown businesses, this would mean a huge hit to their bottom line. While Verveer would not say that any of them would go completely out of business if they were forced to close during Halloween weekend, he did mention that many downtown businesses depend on Halloween to make ends meet, especially during rough times.

So far, the hypothetical situation does not consider the unrest martial law would cause among partygoers. Verveer said he thought nothing good would result from either potential declaration, in advance of the party or as a reaction to extreme circumstances.

"If we did this in advance, I think we'd just be asking for trouble," Verveer said. "It would only give an excuse for civil unrest; it would probably encourage people to act out. If martial law was declared in the middle of the event, on the other hand, I'm pretty sure that would mean that everything would have already gone to hell."

Partygoers can rest assured, though, that Cieslewicz has not declared martial law, and unless the unthinkable happens, probably will not.