A Coordinated and Unified Plan Is Needed for Halloween 2019

OPINION BY PATCH MAYOR SID COLTON: HALLOWEEN ON 53rd STREET NEXT YEAR

Hyde Parkers have a long and proud history of volunteerism for Hyde Park and for the City.

However, sometimes the success and number of attendees at our volunteer-organized events outstrips the number of volunteers available to keep the event orderly and fun.

This is clearly the case with the Hyde Park Halloween events. It has also become true for the '4th on 53rd' Independence Day annual event ... where the last few years it appeared, for example, that there was a giant picnic in Nichols Park with comparatively little food.

In the example of the Halloween event, it needs to be pointed out that this event "spontaneously began" with little or no adult planning, two years ago ... when teens used social media to themselves organize their presence on 53rd Street, as I understand. Therefore the choice of not having this event does not currently exist, since teens in large numbers will come to 53rd Street on Halloween evening ... mainly because they see it as better than any other activity that is readily available to them.

Here are some new things Hyde Park ... as well as the City of Chicago .. can do for next year's 4th of July and Halloween events.

1. Hyde Parkers should be sure to work closely with the City of Chicago and our Aldermen -- and the University of Chicago -- to as great a degree as possible to help plan, finance, and staff these events ... and to come up with a joint written plan for the Halloween events on 53rd Street.

2. Hyde Parkers should work with the City and the Police to make sure the planned security numbers of Police and volunteer-security-citizens are sufficient to manage the estimated maximum number of attendees.

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One completely different long-term option is for the City to have well-organized events in Millennium Park, which can replace Hyde Park's and similar 'more local' events. It has already been suggested a number of times over recent years that Halloween itself should somehow be "moved" to the final weekend of October. This is what is done in Chicago for St Patrick's Day events, for example. These ideas may not come to fruition however, prior to Halloween 2019, so they can not be depended on for next year's planning.

Finally, in a related but even longer-term plan, the advent of the Internet and such has made the City's government structure somewhat out-dated. It needs to be modernized. I would suggest a Constitutional Convention for Chicago. I suggest that there be one Alderman for each of the 77 communities of Chicago; and that the Alderman gets the number of votes in the City Council as there are people in his community. Your comments on this suggestion are extremely welcome!!! My thought is that each of the 77 communities needs a corresponding and well-identified voice in the City Council ... and this would happen under this plan.

Sid Colton, Hyde Park Patch Mayor