Elections for certain positions on the Ames City Council are fast approaching.

The council comprises six members. Four members represent the four different areas, or wards, Ames is divided into. Two members represent the city at large, or as a whole, with the mayor presiding over the council meetings.

Ames citizens and students can vote for who they want to represent the ward they live in, and an at-large member.

The election on Nov. 6 will determine who will represent the 2nd and 4th wards, one of the two council-at-large positions, and three new Ames hospital trustees.

There is only one name on the ballot for the 2nd Ward: the incumbent, Jami Larson. Larson has represented the 2nd Ward since November 2006. Also, while there are three names on the ballot for trustees, voters are allowed to vote for up to three candidates.

There are two people competing for the right to represent the 4th Ward, which includes Richardson Court and Union Drive. Those two are the incumbent, Riad Mahayni, professor of community and regional planning, and Andrew Bock.

Mahayni is confident of his experience on the council.

“I am finishing up my fifth year on this council, and I have an extensive background as a professional city planner. My life is cities and worrying about them,” he said.

Bock has been a resident of the Ames area since he was a student in the early 1980s, and has been involved in previous campaigns. He said he has been encouraging other people to run, and decided he would lead by example.

“I know when things work and when they don’t,” Bock said. “We need someone who wants to make a commitment to be a representative for people in this area. I feel that, in the past, some input the council receives is just disregarded and disdained.”

For the at-large position, the choice is between the incumbent, Matthew Goodman, and Pat Brown. Goodman is the man who owns a few popular spots for students after a night of partying: the gyro and SuperDog stands. He said being a business owner in a town like Ames helps him relate to different lifestyles.

“I can relate to entrepreneurs – I’ve been in business 16 years and have a good sense of what can help business owners,” he said. “But my business helps me maintain a close relationship with the students. I realize that the hopes of people that are 18 and 21 are different from people at 35, and I can relate to them, talk to them and hopefully get some changes made.”

All of the candidates face the common obstacle of getting student voters to show up.

“Last election, we made a big push to get students involved, and it didn’t really pay off. It’s tough, but I can’t blame them. We can’t limit the lack of excitement in city government to just students,” Goodman said.

For Bock and Mahayni, students are a large part of their constituency, so the issue is even more pressing for them.

“The city has been trying to reach them for years,” Mahayni said. “One of my committee members is trying to set up debates about city issues on campus, and I have a Web site that will be up very soon with ways for people to discuss issues and my stance on them. I have been teaching for many years, and students are close to what I do.”

Bock said he wants to take a personal approach to attracting students to his campaign.

“Starting very soon, I plan to eat in the Union Drive Community Center at least once a week, I believe every Tuesday, and be available for students to come up and talk with me about issues they care about,” he said.

No matter which approach wins out in the end, the important thing is that students show they care about their government and vote.

“If I was an undergraduate again, I would take the 15 minutes out of my day and vote,” Goodman said. “Politicians making decisions you don’t agree with is frustrating, but by that time it’s too late to do anything about it. People need to research their officials beforehand.”