As the city election approaches, a number of university employees in the running said they don’t expect juggling Ames City Council and university duties to be a problem.

Candidates also said their affiliation with the university could actually further the “one community” ideal.

Jeremy Davis, 3rd Ward candidate and enrollment services adviser for the financial aid office, said time management skills are important and after watching other people serving on City Council work full-time jobs and balance the positions, has gotten a better idea of how to balance responsibilities.

For the past five years, council member Sharon Wirth has balanced working for the university and serving on City Council. Wirth, teaching lab coordinator for textiles and clothing, said it is “hard to balance and juggle things,” because meetings can come up unexpectedly.

“Sometimes you can’t anticipate when extra meetings are needed, and that can be hard to fit into a schedule,” she said. “It all depends on the courses you’re teaching and the time available outside of class.”

Wirth said other full-time jobs might be easier to overlap with City Council, rather than university jobs.

Robin Habeger, 1st Ward candidate and program coordinator for the College of Business, said she doesn’t foresee a problem balancing her university job and council duties.

“What it comes down to is making sure I can fulfill my university duties, as well as council duties,” she said.

Habeger said time-management skills are essential when balancing two jobs, an area in which she has extensive experience. She said she served on the Board of Adjustment, worked full-time at the Department of Transportation and finished school all at the same time.

Balancing a university job with City Council is hard, Wirth said, but working with students on a daily basis provides a unique opportunity to hear their perspective on issues being discussed during council meetings.

“I try hard to not mix the two jobs, especially in the classroom, because council issues are the subject matter,” she said. “But I frequently talk outside of class with students or am invited to talk to other classes, and that provides a unique opportunity to hear feedback.”

Davis said through daily interaction with students and other faculty members he hears thoughts on council issues. He could then effectively relay opinions from both sides during council meetings.

Wirth said she’s not sure the university and the City of Ames are as divided as many people think.

“We just need to make a concentrated effort to communicate and see other views,” she said. “It’s a matter of getting more information and working things out because if we don’t, then animosity flares and it promotes the us versus them – and that’s not healthy.”