MASEL EAGER TO WELCOME MAYORS

He has made a career of being the fly in officialdom's soup in cities
across the country, so it seems only fitting now that Ben Masel, 47 and
gray, is bringing his wacky idea that free speech in America is not a
popularity contest squarely home to Madison.

Do not confuse Masel's scruffy appearance with fuzzy thinking. The ink
wasn't yet dry on last spring's announcement that Madison would host the
U.S. Conference of Mayors this June when Masel was filing for a permit to
use two blocks of Martin Luther King Boulevard adjacent to the convention
center June 14-15 for a celebration of "free expression."

A couple of months after Masel filed, the city's conference host committee
filed to close Martin Luther King for seven hours one of those days to
prepare a "procession" for the mayors, who will be at a reception in the
evening at the State Capitol and then will walk over to Monona Terrace via
MLK Boulevard.

Imagine the private reaction of Mayor Sue Bauman and other local
dignitaries when they got the word: "Somebody has already requested a permit."

Bauman: "Who?"

"Are you sitting down?"

Masel said Thursday his reading of the city ordinance on assembly says the
first petitioner is supposed to get the permit. City events coordinator
Kelli Lamberty has said she thinks a compromise can be worked out before a
final decision on the permits is issued next month.

The compromise might be to simply have the mayors walk through Masel's
gathering of free expressionists, which would be interesting. Certainly it
would fulfill the city's wish - as noted in the host committee's permit
request - that the procession would "showcase Madison's diverse community."

Think of the possibilities. As the procession ambles by Masel could seek
out Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and thank him for the check for $20,000
that Chicago gave Masel to settle several lawsuits relating to his arrest
outside the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

After getting his picture taken with Daley, Masel could then approach Los
Angeles Mayor James Hahn and chat about the deposition Masel just gave out
in California.

Masel was being deposed in a suit he filed against Los Angeles after their
cops roughed him up two years ago. Masel's Chicago settlement had arrived
just in time for him to buy plane tickets to L.A. for the 2000 Democratic
convention. Masel was outside the convention hall telling delegates going
inside that they did not have to submit to searches when a couple of police
officers asked him to leave. When he declined, Masel said, they began
beating on him with nightsticks. Masel was bruised but his dialing finger
was OK enough to call UW law school alum Jim Fosbinder in L.A. and file suit.

Masel should also not let the parade of mayors pass by without saying hello
to Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Kay Barnes. Ben hasn't filed anything yet
against Kansas City, but by June he will have.

Last summer Masel was in New Mexico for a drug law reform conference. The
state's Republican governor, Gary Johnson, has views on the absurdity of
current drug laws that match Masel's. After the conference Ben took the
Amtrak back and the train stopped in Kansas City. "If it stops for more
than half an hour, the police come aboard," Masel said. They walked right
past Ben but when they came to any young Hispanics or blacks they asked
them to stand and be searched. Masel quickly rose himself and told the kids
they had a constitutional right not to be searched. For his effort on their
behalf Masel was arrested on the charge of obstructing an officer.

The charge was dropped when the officer failed to show at a court
appearance in the case. Now Masel has retained Madison lawyer Jeff Scott
Olson - who has handled a number of Ben's Weedstock legal adventures - to
file suit in Kansas City for false arrest.

On Thursday Masel was asked what he might do if he isn't awarded the Martin
Luther King Boulevard permit next month. The answer should not surprise the
mayors or anyone else. "See you in court," he said.