Halloween on State Street will be different in 2006, due to measures passed in an 18-2 vote by the Madison City Council on Tuesday.
The council approved Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's controversial plan after a two-week delay in voting. The plan includes fencing off State Street and charging $5 for tickets to the event. The city will make 80,000 Halloween tickets available and will open the gates to State Street at 7:30 p.m. The gates will be closed at 1:30 a.m.
Residents of State Street will be given tickets free of charge, but others wishing to get from one side of State Street to the other without a ticket will have to avoid the street entirely.
""It's not perfect, it's the first year we are trying this, but at least we are making progress,"" said UW-Madison senior Brandon Sivret, a member of the Halloween Action Committee. Sivret originally opposed the mayor's plan and advocated moving Halloween to Langdon Street.
On Tuesday, Sivret said Cieslewicz's plan offered students the chance to change Halloween for the better.
""The city is doing its part, and now it's time for the students and the rest of Madison to do their part,"" Sivret said.
Cieslewicz said charging $5 and fencing off State Street would thwart some common Halloween problems. He pointed in particular to the public drunkenness and high cost to the city that has defined the event in recent years.
""I can tell you that public support for Halloween is very thin to say the least,"" Cieslewicz said. ""I would hope that with a few years of peaceful endings, by starting to address these issues of cost, and addressing these issues of overconsumption, that we will start to rebuild public support for it.""
In response to student objections to the mayor's plan, Alds. Austin King, District 8, and Mike Verveer, District 4, organized a town hall meeting last week. Phil Ejercito, who attended the meeting, spoke of concerns that remain before Tuesday's vote.
""Last week's forum was extremely helpful, but a lot of questions remained unanswered,"" he said. ""We have been focusing on sticks here, but no attention on carrots,"" he later added.
King voted against the proposed changes, arguing that spillover from the event would lead to downtown rowdiness.
""I can't vote for a resolution that I believe could jeopardize the safety of my constituents living in residential areas in order to help reduce the tax burdens on your district by a few pennies,"" King said.
However, Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said police are prepared to handle any situations that might arise on other city streets.
