REACTION TO MAYOR'S LOITERING VETO

Fred Bobo, a black landlord, has been stopped by police while doing nothing
wrong in the troubled Cypress Way-Magnolia Lane neighborhood on Madison's
South Side.

Bobo, who wears hooded sweatshirts and says he could be mistaken for a drug
dealer, doesn't mind.

In fact, he's disturbed that Mayor Sue Bauman last week vetoed the Madison
City Council move to make permanent the city's loitering law, which makes
it illegal to loiter for the purpose of selling drugs.

"If you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry
about," Bobo said.

Bauman, who is white, made the veto over concern the law isn't working and
discriminates against blacks. She prefers the law be extended a year or two
while the Madison Police Department explores alternatives.

A lot of residents and landlords in the Cypress-Magnolia neighborhood,
where the loitering law was used most in the city last year, are fuming
over the veto.

"I don't think the mayor understands the reality of drug dealing," said
Michele Heyman, a white woman who has rented for almost two decades near
the intersections of Cypress, Magnolia and Hughes Place, Madison's ground
zero for drug sales and prostitution in recent years.

The law, which carries fines of $653 for adults and $68.75 juveniles, is
needed to help fight open-air drug sales run by outsiders that's
intimidating, loud and sometimes violent, she said. "We don't have innocent
children lying dead in coffins - yet," she said. "Do we have to wait for
that?"

But there's another view in the neighborhood.

"It's like we can't stand no where, no how," said a black teen hanging with
some friends at the McDonald's on South Park Street, where the youth looked
uneasy as squad cars passed and eventually were shooed away. "They act like
we're some big-time drug dealers. They think every black sells drugs."

The veto was cheered by the Equal Opportunities Commission, the political
party Progressive Dane, which has a block of votes on the council, the
local chapter of the NAACP, and the Urban League of Greater Madison.

The law "clearly strikes a disparate impact against African American men,"
said urban league executive director Stephen Braunginn, who is black.

But there are also accusations that Bauman made the veto to win political
favor with liberals and African-American organizations. She faces
reelection in early 2003.

"This reeks of mayoral politics," said Ald. Tim Bruer, 14th District, a
white who represents the area. indentBauman rejected the allegation. "I do
things because I believe in them," she said.

The law, passed in 1997 but with time limits, is set to expire on
Wednesday. On Feb. 19, the council voted 11-7 to continue it indefinitely,
inspiring the mayor's veto and plea to continue it for the short-term while
the city finds other ways to help poor neighborhoods.

The drug trade emerged in Magnolia-Cypress despite the loitering law,
Bauman said.

"I'm saying, keep it while we look for something different," she said.

Bauman also said the law may not stand in the courts. But the city
attorney's office has issued an opinion saying the law could withstand a
legal challenge.

On Tuesday, the council can override Bauman with a two-thirds majority and
make the law permanent, extend the law a year or two, or let it expire.

Ald. Dorothy Borchardt, 12th District, a white who has championed the law,
said some may now be inclined to let it die and leave the responsibility to
the mayor.

Police Chief Richard Williams, who is black, supports the law.

The data supports all sides.

Of the 77 loitering citations issued last year:

80 percent were to African Americans.

The most, 55, were in the Burr Oaks neighborhood, the area around Cypress,
Magnolia, Hughes, West Badger Road and South Park Street. Allied Drive,
with seven, had second most.

Just seven suspects lived in the area where the citations were issued. And
only 54 percent lived in the city.

81 percent of suspects had a history of drugs, violence or both.

78 percent of citations were issued by Dane County Narcotics and Gang Task
Force members and 21 percent by neighborhood patrol officers.

The youth hanging around the McDonald's, who did not want to be named, said
the only thing they fear in the neighborhood is the police.

And the local NAACP has heard concerns from the Burr Oaks residents about
being used against blacks, said NAACP attorney David Hart, who is black.

The NAACP wants a community policing task force and continued annual review
of the law, with more scrutiny on how it's used and working, Hart said.

The police must also aggressively enforce existing drug laws, he said.
"Everybody wants a drug-free neighborhood," he said.

The loitering law, Braunginn said, should be left to expire and Bauman
should host a conference to find non-discriminatory ways to fight open air
drug dealing in Burr Oaks and other poor neighborhoods.

Supporters of the law disagree.

"Come up with something else? What?" asked John Lucille, a black landlord
and activist in the neighborhood.

At public meetings conducted by the EOC and Public Safety Review Board late
last year, the Burr Oaks neighborhood overwhelmingly supported the law,
said neighborhood association president Brad Boyle, who is white.

Those who turned out - black and white - backed the law, and residents and
landlords submitted a petition with more than 80 signatures, Boyle said.

The loitering law and other efforts, such as "take back the corner" walks
by residents, landlords and police, have helped calm the neighborhood in
recent months, activists said.

But it's unclear what will happen when the weather improves, they said.

"A lot of (dealers) that you see, they're very arrogant," Lucille said.
"You take this resource away from the police and they're going to get more
arrogant. They aren't 15- and 16-year-olds. They are grown men wreaking
havoc on us."

Heyman said, "You're talking about people in business. They have money and
they have guns."

Taking the loitering law away gives criminals from outside the neighborhood
more rights than residents, they said. If anything, residents and landlords
want more police presence and arrests of white buyers as well as black sellers.

The loitering law is an important part of a larger effort to fight the drug
trade, said South Police District Capt. Randy Gaber, who is white.

"If you have a neighborhood in a state of crisis, you have to have a
certain number of tools at your disposal," he said.

To use the law, police - almost exclusively task force members and
neighborhood officers - must take special training and observe a series of
behaviors, such as people frequenting an area of known drug activity and
making repeated attempts to stop known sellers or buyers, he said. An
arresting officer must give a suspect a chance to explain conduct.

"We base our contacts on behavior," he said. "It's not like we start
walking down the street and stopping people."

Gaber said he is unaware of any formal complaints of misuse of the law.
Hart of the NAACP knew of none either.

Bruer said, "We have found it an invaluable tool, not only for the Police
Department but for neighborhood activists."

And to critics, he said, "I welcome them to move to this drug infested
area. I'm convinced that after 30 days they'd be willing to reinstate the
ordinance."