UW-Madison students will finally have a chance to offer input on Halloween 2006 plans tonight at a town hall meeting at Bascom Hall.
Alds. Mike Verveer, District 4, and Austin King, District 8, organized the 7:30 p.m. meeting in response to student outrage over current Halloween plans. Under Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's direction, the city intends to fence off State Street and charge $5 for admission to Halloween celebrations. Cieslewicz's original plan also included a 50,000-person cap on ticket sales to the event.
Sophomore Tom Wangard initially led a charge to transplant the celebration from State Street to Langdon Street in response to the mayor's plan to charge for admission. However in recent weeks, Wangard has moderated his stance and says his group, now called the Halloween Action Committee, has a ""working relationship"" with Cieslewicz.
""We started off as a reactionary group, but now we're ready to come to a compromise with the mayor,"" Wangard said at a city council meeting last week.
ASM chair Dylan Rath said the student government would also send a representative to the town hall meeting tonight, where police, Cieslewicz and other city officials are expected to speak with students.
Cieslewicz's office was not available for comment Tuesday and has not said whether suggestions offered tonight will have any impact on the city's Halloween plans.
