LEAVING A LEGACY OF GOOD ADVICE

One year ago today, at least for a day, Racine hit bottom on the hip
scale. It was on Nov. 2, 2002, that city police crashed a Halloween
party at the Tradewinds Village banquet hall in Uptown, arrested four
people for selling drugs and issued 442 citations to people attending
the event.

The tickets, for occupying a disorderly house, came with a nearly
$1,000 fine. Most of the people cited had not taken drugs and had done
nothing more than attend a techno music concert.

News of the bust spread quickly, its significance radiating through
the Internet around the world. The key issue: It was one of the first
times authorities anywhere in the United States had targeted
concert-goers, rather than promoters or organizers, in their attempts
to shut down a show.

Erik Guenther, a local attorney who helped defend the people who
received tickets, said the police, acting on misguided notions of
techno music, violated the concert-goers' civil rights.

Local police called the Halloween party a "rave." In our present-day
lexicon, raves have become synonymous with clandestine parties fueled
by drugs and electronic music. But this definition, spread mainly by
distorted media accounts of actual raves, clearly did not apply to
Racine's Halloween party. The event was publicly advertised, held in
the middle of a city and forbade the possession of drugs.

Still, drugs found their way into the party. Police documented pills
spilled on the floor of the hall and what appeared to be a handful of
inebriated people at the concert.

Two undercover officers, acting on a tip from U.S. Customs, also
bought drugs from four concert-goers and reasoned that the party was
putting people's lives in danger. To this day, Racine Police Chief
David Spenner stands by the actions of his officers at the Halloween
party.

In retrospect, it's clear that police made mistakes. Primarily, they
simply should not have ticketed everyone at the concert. If officers
were concerned about safety, they should have continued to monitor and
patrol the event rather than shut down the party based on evidence
collected from less than 1 percent of the participants.

These mistakes were borne out, and corrected, during the legal chaos
that ensued following the incident. Defended by Guenther and the
American Civil Liberties Union, party-goers demanded that the tickets
be dropped and fought city attorneys through initial deals to reduce
the fines.

Over strident objects by the Racine police, the party-goers won. All
charges were dismissed and expunged from their records, meaning no
trace of the incident would follow them through their lives.

The settlement also demanded that the city revise its "disorderly
house" ordinance, an antiquated law officers used to cite the
partygoers, and train police on the changes. The terms of the deal
have been met, Guenther said last week.

But fallout remains from the incident, mainly in the form of a hit to
Racine's image.

After the arrests, Guenther was interviewed by media around the around
the world. Radio stations and newspapers called him from England,
Ireland and Australia, all asking for an explanation of how people
could get arrested for listening to music.

Racine's name was further skewered across the Internet - search
Google.com for "Racine" and "rave" to see reports of the incident - as
techno-music fans spread word of the incident. The collective
response: How could a city be so, well, unhip?

There are reasons to support the police officers' actions last Nov. 2.
The Halloween party was poorly organized and barely advertised
locally. It was clearly an attempt to draw people from outside of the
area without arousing much attention from the city.

Further, interviews with people at the concert revealed several people
at the party were under 18 years old, including one at least one girl
from the Madison area who was 15. Most people said they saw little
security at the event; despite a pledge to search bags for drugs,
concert-goers were able to walk in and out of the show without being
stopped.

For these reasons, it's probably a good thing the organizers of last
year's show have passed on reviving this. But the fundamental problems
that led to last year's Halloween debacle remain. They include: 1. A
lack of understanding and respect for such things as "raves" - and
heavy-handed responses to this misunderstanding.

2. Young adults are underrepresented and ignored in local policy
debates. While some city officials push for a movement toward "young
professionals," local issues revolve around taxes and government
spending. We get it, everyone wants more money. What else is there to
talk about?

3. The lack of a viable concert venue in eastern Racine County. While
local bars try to fill the void, there is simply no place in the
Racine area to hold a decent-sized rock, hip hop or techno show.

All of this contributes to the Racine area's struggles to improve its
image, attract talent and generally bring vitality to the area that
too often is sucked away to other, larger cities. In order to reverse
this trend, steps must be taken to foster events like a
techno-Halloween party, while also providing a safe
environment.

There are seeds of this type of cooperation. Groups such as they Young
Professionals of Racine and young leaders are stepping into more
prominent roles in the community, while local residents are looking at
broader issues to benefit the area. The rebirth of Downtown, a growing
arts community and efforts to fight coal plants in Oak Creek, oppose
concealed carry handguns, at least in Racine, and to stand against the
World Bank all seem to be examples of a wider collective view.

Together, young and old can transform Racine into a new, modern, even
hip, community. Apart, one will simply devour the other to the
detriment of both.