Despite his response to a question at a forum Monday, a candidate for the at-large seat of the Ames City Council did vote in the 2001 city elections.

Matthew Goodman, 3303 West St., said at the forum he did not vote because he said he could not remember for sure if he had.

“I couldn’t make myself [say I voted] on the off-chance I’d make a mistake on it,” Goodman said Wednesday. “My traditional method is I always vote — no matter what, I vote.”

However, the 2001 city election is the only election in which Goodman has voted, despite living in Ames for the last 12 years.

“The best explanation is when I was younger, I was just more self-interested and had not come to be publicly active,” Goodman said.

Goodman is not the only candidate for City Council who has not voted regularly in past elections. Joseph Viles, professor in genetics, development and cell biology, is a candidate for the fourth ward seat. Viles also voted in the 2001 election — the only time since 1991.

Monte Parrish, running for the at-large seat, voted in the 1997 and 2001 elections.

Mayor Ted Tedesco said it is important for citizens to vote in city and national elections.

“It says they’re very interested in the government of their city, county, state or nation,” Tedesco said.

Elections for the city are held every two years, with one at-large and two ward seats being voted upon in each election. The at-large seat Judie Hoffman has held since 1986 is up for election Tuesday, as well as the second and fourth ward seats.

The next mayoral election will coincide with the 2005 city election. With the at-large seats being decided in alternating elections, there is always a council position on which the entire city can vote.

Parrish, 1511 Stone Brooke Rd., said his military background explains why he didn’t participate in the early 1990s.

“Military folks are apolitical in a lot of senses because they work for the commander in chief, whether it’s a Republican or Democrat,” Parrish said.

Parrish graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in the Army.

Viles said he voted in the 2001 election because there were candidates with whom he did not agree — he wanted to make sure they were voted out of office.

“Before, I didn’t vote because there wasn’t anything I severely disagreed with,” Viles said.

Councilman Steve Goodhue, who is running unopposed for reelection to the second ward seat, voted in the last three city council elections, but did not vote in 1991 or 1993. He did not live in Ames at election time, he said.

Goodhue returned to Ames in the fall of 1995, but did not vote that year because he was still getting used to the community, he said.

Goodhue said voting by a candidate running for council shows the person wants to make changes and be part of the process.

“From my perspective it is extremely important that the entire community vote in the City Council elections,” he said.

Councilman Riad Mayahni, professor in community and regional planning, is running for reelection to the fourth ward seat. He and at-large candidate Mary Ann Lundy both missed the 1991 election but voted in each City Council election since.

“I don’t feel like you have the right to complain if you don’t vote and do your part,” said Lundy, 4316 Phoenix St.

Tedesco said it is up to residents to decide if they believe a candidate’s voting record is important.

“I think it says they really don’t appreciate their right to vote and have a voice,” he said. “It also shows they really don’t have an interest in their community and what its image may be.”

Nathan Johnston, ex officio student member of the City Council who is running for the at-large seat, said students have to vote to be represented.

“[Students] have to vote because people in those positions who can help are looking at people who vote,” he said.

Both students left running for a seat on the City Council, Johnston and Matt Denner, voted in the 2001 election.

Johnston said he voted in West Des Moines in 2001, where he was living at the time, not in Ames.

Denner, senior in political science and fourth ward candidate, voted in the Ames election. Denner said he did not vote in Ames in 1999 because he was living in West Des Moines.

Goodman, despite only voting in 2001, said he feels voting is the “fabric of everything” in the democratic system. Citizens are “failing responsibilities” if they don’t vote in elections, he said.