Despite recent efforts to increase student involvement in local government, leaders said there is still progress to be made to establish “one community.”

Although the lack of student involvement itself is not a point of contention among students and community and city leaders, no such consensus exists on how to get students more involved.

Tony Borich, student ex-officio City Council liaison, said the “one community” plan is designed to increase communication between the university and the city, which, among other things, brings a louder student voice to city government.

“I think the basis of the proposal is to build bridges between the students, the university administration and the city to increase collaboration and communication between those groups,” Borich said. “In doing that, the students will definitely benefit, because the policies those groups develop will be more reflective of student viewpoints.”

He said gains toward one community have been made in the past year in the wake of last year’s riot in Campustown.

“The university administration and the student leadership, as well as the city leadership, worked very closely to have good discussions and analyze the situations closely,” he said.

City Councilman Matthew Goodman said the 2004 Task Force on Assuring Successful Veishea and Other Student/Community Celebrations brought together the university, students and city government. He said many of the recommendations in the one community proposal came out of the discussions in the aftermath of the riot, including a recommendation to increase the number of students on city boards and commissions.

GSB plans to create a widely circulated student application for positions on city committees, according to the one community proposal.

Goodman said the City Council has already lowered the term length on several commissions to increase accessibility to students.

A proposal to lower City Council term limits from four years to two years failed, however, in an Ames special election April 5.

Henry Alliger, former Government of the Student Body speaker of the senate, said the proposal failed because many students are not registered to vote in Ames and because not enough people knew or cared about the issue.

Borich said he believes the most important part of the one community proposal is the creation of a student commission that would give advice to the council. The current plan is for the ex-officio student council liaison to appoint members to the commission, he said.

The one community plan, drafted by Borich and GSB President Angela Groh, also includes plans to inform students of their rights and responsibilities as Ames citizens, to increase entertainment options in Ames and to develop programs for community service.

Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco said cooperation between students and Ames residents has increased.

“I think after what transpired last year and the one community concept, at least more people are conscious of trying to do things together,” he said.

Both Tedesco and Goodman said students often perceive the City Council as being irrelevant to their lives.

“When I was a student, to be quite honest, I had come to college with some main goals in mind,” Goodman said. “Planning and zoning and land use weren’t major concerns of mine.”

Tedesco said the council does represent students, even if students are not always directly involved.

“You have to keep in mind the work of the council is looking at issues from the standpoint of the entire community, not just one segment of the population,” he said. “They are cognizant of what issues affect students.”

Fern Kupfer, a founding member of the South Campus Area Neighborhood Association and adviser to the Campustown Student Association, said the most important factor for student involvement in city government is for issues to be relevant to students. She said most people, including students, are only interested in issues that affect them.

“I think everyone is interested in their own self-interest,” Kupfer said. “Students are busy enough with their own lives.”

She said most issues the council deals with are not relevant to students, although students do get involved when an issue is relevant. Kupfer said student opposition to low-density housing legislation mandating no more than three unrelated individuals could live together is an example of an issue students see as relevant.

Tedesco said students, however, must be involved in the City Council to some degree to know what issues affect them.

Alliger said he agrees that students need issues relevant to them to get involved.

“You’ve got to get something people can get behind to really get people motivated,” he said.

Students, however, do not become involved, even on issues they care about, because they do not know how to, Alliger said. He said students need to feel they have a strong voice in the community.

He said he thinks students are beginning to see how the City Council is relevant to their lives.

“There’s a lot of people that have a growing interest in it,” Alliger said.