Mifflin Street residents, city agencies and event organizers will come together this evening to address any preliminary concerns and expectations for the fast-approaching Mifflin Street Block Party.
The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Madison Senior Center located at 330 W. Mifflin St. It is intended to inform Mifflin residents of what is expected of them and their guests during the annual event, but the meeting is open to all those interested in creating a more successful event, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said.
Verveer represents a large portion of the downtown area and the Mifflin neighborhood. By communicating with both those who supervise the event and those who enjoy it, he said Mifflin has seen considerable improvements in terms of enforcement and behavior during the celebration.
The neighborhood meetings have been organized every year since the riots in 1996, Verveer said. By establishing procedures and coordinating with city agencies, he said he hopes the event will continue on its course of lowered arrest numbers and increased safety for revelers.
“I’ve hosted the meetings for over a decade now, and I think they’re very effective in establishing some expectations and ground rules,” Verveer said.
The 1996 riots resulted in the setting of several fires, injuries to police officers supervising the event and damage to a city fire truck. Measures taken by the city to crack down on the annual block party led to a period of relative calm with few arrests until 2005, when arrest numbers began a drastic increase that peaked in 2008.
That year, the event saw a total of 440 arrests. The following year, with the formal sponsorship by organizer DCNY Pro LLC, only 164 arrests were recorded.
Representatives from the Madison Police and Fire departments, the event’s organizers and Verveer will be present to answer any questions and address any concerns from residents.
“We will be able to discuss the music stages, vending, cleanup and conduct of city services,” Verveer said. “Since the relatively new arrival of event organizers, they will be key participating in the meeting as well.”
The event itself is scheduled — well ahead of finals — for this coming Saturday.
