Planning for this year's Halloween celebrations has kicked into high gear now that the city has hired an events coordinator whose main task is to oversee the numerous neighborhood and club events entertainment officials are helping to organize for the night of October 31.

Laura Fraenza, 45, started in the newly created position June 2 and will earn $94,000 a year. She joins the staff of the city's Entertainment Commission and her main duty is to coordinate the numerous events expected to take place throughout the city on Halloween night.

"I feel like this year is a new year. I recognize there is a lot of hope and a lot of trepidation with Halloween this year. I am hoping people will be able to breathe a sigh of relief and it's a great success," Fraenza told the Bay Area Reporter during an interview this week. "We don't want it to be a feared event. We want it to be a fun event like it used to be."

This year Halloween falls on a Friday, and city officials have already pledged they will not close down the Castro as they did last year. The shutdown of the traditional street party in the city's gay neighborhood was in response to growing violence at previous gatherings.

The move placated Castro residents who had grown leery of the increasingly unruly crowds and dangerous nature of the party. But it upset nightlife advocates and employees of Castro bars, which more or less were forced to close early last year.

In response, Supervisor Bevan Dufty fought to see that the new events coordinator position received funding this year, despite the city's budget deficit, and hopes having a dedicated staffer working full-time on Halloween will ensure a peaceful return of the holiday to the Castro in the fall.

"Laura's singular focus is on achieving a successful Halloween. In 60 to 90 days we will be moving far along in organizing neighborhood venues, signing on sponsors and demonstrating to people in the Castro and the city that we are prepared to have a safe and secure Halloween," said Dufty.

Entertainment Commission President Audrey Joseph said by July city officials hope to have finalized plans for events the night of October 31 in various city neighborhoods.

"The good thing about having Laura is she is a full-time employee and can focus on this full-time," said Joseph, who was tasked with planning an event outside the Castro last year but saw the plans unravel when the promoter had to back out at the last minute due to health issues.

With the city unable to take over the event itself, Mayor Gavin Newsom decided to cancel the annual Halloween party in the Castro. The city then hired a publicist to spread the "No Halloween" message and request revelers to stay at home. Aided by a media blitz, cold weather, and a large police presence, the city's campaign turned the Castro into a ghost town Halloween night.

It remains to be seen just what sort of party the city will allow to take place in the Castro this year. While officials have stated they will not ask bars to close, they have not said if they will allow a return of street closures and sound stages.

Dufty said he has been in talks with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and hopes to have the group's involvement with the Castro Halloween celebrations this fall.

"The Sisters are interested in being hosts of Halloween in the Castro," said Dufty. "The Sisters are willing to come in and help us operationally. This will be a gay-focused, neighborhood responsible event."

Sister Barbi Mitzvah, a spokesperson for the group, said the Sisters are open to discussing helping out with Halloween in some manner this year but that nothing is set in stone. The group stopped organizing the street party and collecting donations at the gates in the mid-1990s.

"We are investigating doing something for Halloween. It could mean a private event at some venue or doing something in the streets on Halloween. It is to be determined," said Mitzvah. "The only way this would ever work in the Castro is if there were other things going on in the city."

As for Fraenza's coming on board, Mitzvah said he has been impressed so far.

"I think with her background in promotions she brings a different angle. I also think she is more of a realist," he said. "If the city is going to do something and have a regular something for Halloween, it has to be built up over several years. It is not going to happen in one year."

For the time being, Fraenza is focused on meeting with city officials and neighborhood groups as well as reaching out to potential sponsors for this year's Halloween.

"I am meeting with people to hear everybody's side of what happened. I am in a fact-finding mode," she said.

A Mission District resident, Fraenza brings 20 years of experience in music, production, and special events. The New Jersey native previously worked with San Francisco-based concert promoter Bill Graham Presents and Two Visions, another local production company. In 2000 Fraenza joined the production staff of Cirque Du Soleil's European touring division.

Prior to accepting the city job, she worked as an independent producer in the Bay Area and was a sales director with Velocity, a local arts and entertainment company. She plans to use her local connections to bring promoters on board for this year's Halloween celebrations.

"I am ready for a new challenge," Fraenza said.

Though she has not attended Halloween in the Castro for the past four years, due to traveling outside the city for work, Fraenza said outdoor events and street celebrations such as Pride, Halloween, and Carnaval "are dear to my heart."