The Mifflin Street Block Party may not be dead yet. Despite threats made by Mayor Paul Soglin and the Madison Police Department to end the party, city officials are seeking Mifflin Street residents' input to determine the block party's future.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, and Capital Neighborhoods Inc. plan to hold a neighborhood- wide meeting in the next 30 days to facilitate a dialogue between students and Mifflin residents about the importance of their leadership in mobilizing to save the event.
""We need to find out what they want to do,"" CNI President Davy Mayer said. ""It's their street""
Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said he believes Mifflin can happen, but the block party must change.
Resnick said he believes the Mifflin Street party can continue to exist, if it is no longer a city or state-wide party, but become ""more of a UW Party.""
For the 2011 block party, private sponsors advertised the party state-wide, promoting the event with what Resnick called a ""crazy drinking-on-the-street anything-goes mentality.""
""And that's what we got, people coming from outside the state who had that ‘anything goes' mentality,"" Resnick said.
Verveer said although Soglin strongly opposes the event occurring in 2012, the city has not yet formulated any concrete methods on how to approach the issue.
Mayer said city officials' stance to end the party is ""kind of a silly conclusion.""
""It is impossible to stop something that doesn't have a singular organizer,"" Mayer said. ""Mifflin is a spontaneous collection of house parties.""
""I think it falls more on CNI and myself to get the ball rolling with a conversation with the neighborhood and see where this block party is going,"" Verveer said.
According to Resnick, the Mayor and other city officials will start setting the party's regulations in January, and that officers will most likely come down harder on people who are being irresponsible.
But according to Resnick, only 30 to 40 UW students were arrested at this years' Mifflin, while over 100 out-of-towners were arrested.
""Students need to take back Mifflin Street,"" Resnick said. ""Hopefully we can bring the Mayor back to the table.""
