Every year, this issue for some reason or another becomes a hot topic at City Hall. This is due to some politicians, like Mayor Taylor, believing that more conformity in the trick-or-treat times throughout the Milwaukee metropolitan area will result in less crossover between communities. The matter became a hot button issue in regards to the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council (ICC), which Mayor Taylor is its Chairman.
In recent years, leaders in the suburbs, Mayor Taylor included, are frustrated more than ever in terms of carloads of children coming from elsewhere, the elephant in the room being the City of Milwaukee, to the suburbs in persuit of a safer, more enjoyable trick-or-treat (and likely better choices of candy at the doors). The leaders are upset because of an apparent silent uprising among suburban residents having to purchase additional candy at the local Target or Walgreens to accomodate these Milwaukee youths running around in costumes with their, in our case, Franklin counterparts.
While Mayor Taylor apparently hears all the concern, the Common Council has heard the other side from Franklin residents that enjoy the more traditional evening trick-or-treat time of 4-7pm. Due to this, the Mayor has been on the opposite side of the argument for the past few years.
Now, the matter comes up again because the Mayor is determined to win this fight over the Council, and it has been heard that several aldermen are intending to side with the Mayor this time around. So the question is whether or not the traditional Halloween time has enough votes. People commenting on this site and on Facebook in the past have come out strongly in favor of tradition, but it is unknown if that will be enough to convince aldermen to stick to their guns.
In closing, I do remind the elected leaders that for many years while Franklin has had this 4-7pm timeframe from trick-or-treat, our subdivisions have hosted youngsters from a variety of communities, including the City of Milwaukee. As far as I know, each year goes by without incident. Let's be sure to remember this and keep the bogus fear and concern out of the debate, please.
