Ames will vote for a new mayor and for three City Council positions tomorrow.

We won’t waste your time talking about every candidate who is running, but we would like to express our support for two candidates who we feel could have positive, significant impacts on the Ames City Council.

Those two candidates are Dan Rice for the 1st Ward and Ryan Doll for the 3rd Ward.

Why? Both candidates have a history of being able to work with students and non-student residents of Ames, and both are in a position to bridge the gap between one half of Ames and the other.

Dan Rice’s personal history and resume reads like he was born for a position on the Ames City Council. He traveled the country as a young man and then got his undergraduate degree here at Iowa State. He has served in a variety of city positions since living here, including working with the Ames Planning and Zoning Commission.

Topping off his experience with Ames on the municipal level, Rice is an academic adviser here at Iowa State for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. As you might be aware, the LAS College houses the “open option” major. Rice’s job is to advise and aid students struggling to figure out what to do with their lives – to listen to their concerns. It’s his job, not just a campaign promise, to work with students and to listen to them.

Serving on city-level commissions and working with students in his professional career puts Rice in a unique position of having experience working with all levels of Ames as a city. Rice would be a welcome addition to the Council.

But not all students or residents can vote in the 1st Ward. Many students who live off-campus will be voting in the 3rd Ward. That brings us to Ryan Doll.

At the very least, you should vote for Doll because he is the only student running. ISU students represent at least half of the population of Ames.

It is time that half of the city is represented with a seat on the Council. It is a shame that there is no one currently on the Council that directly represents the largest demographic of the entire city. That must change.

If that were the only reason to vote for Doll, he would be no different than the other 27,000 of us. Doll has shown himself to be the most promising student candidate to date for his earnest, energetic campaign to reach all of Ames. As a GSB senator, student and resident, he is hungry to make changes here.

He’s walked door to door, put up television ads (maybe you’ve seen them?) and made a concerted effort to talk to students and non-students alike in his ward about the issues. He’s shown himself to be a dedicated student and an even more dedicated candidate.

Doll and Rice have experience bridging the gaps that divide Ames as a community, and they deserve your vote on Nov. 8.