A Thursday night forum on campus gave City Council and mayoral candidates a chance to share their platforms with students, although the meeting was sparsely attended.

After a brief introduction by each candidate, the meeting was opened for questions. Most revolved around how to make Ames one community.

“I think this is a reactionary response. Some of the actions taken by City Council may have made the situation worse,” said Daryle Vegge, incumbent 3rd Ward candidate.

“I also think roundtable meetings like we had last night are very helpful in bringing us together.”

Jon Shelness, mayoral candidate, spoke of the disconnection from the City Council on a level more broad than a simple divide between the university and the city.

“Much of the community feels disconnected, not just students,” he said. “The City Council needs to reach out to them instead of having them always come to us.”

Robin Habeger, 1st Ward candidate, talked about the problems of attempting to legislate the “one community” idea.

“People need to get out on their own and meet their neighbors,” Habeger said. “This problem is not going to be solved in City Council chambers. It is going to be solved on the sidewalks of Ames.”

Shelness spoke at the end of the forum and asked both audience members and council candidates if they would participate, if he was elected, in a “norm-finding process.” Students present said they were welcome to the idea, but nonstudent residents said they would not participate, as did all candidates except for Ryan Doll, 3rd Ward candidate and senior in political science.

“This is a process that I have used in my current job, where we find out what peoples’ agendas actually are,” Shelness said.