Ames residents obviously wanted to see a change in the city government when they went to the polls Tuesday and elected Ted Tedesco as the new mayor. We called Mayor-elect Tedesco Wednesday afternoon and asked him what issues he plans to address while in office.

Mayor Tedesco said he will address the issue of creating a “friendlier city government” where the citizens of Ames can feel comfortable speaking to city officials.

In addition, Tedesco plans to be more accessible to the public by holding mayoral office hours for half days once a week.

“I want people to stop by if they have any problems with how the city government is operating,” he said.

Tedesco said he plans to address commercial development in Ames, especially on the east side of U.S. Interstate 35.

City expansion is another issue Tedesco plans to address.

He said one example would be to create more recreation facilities for the citizens of Ames and Iowa State students.

Tedesco said the city should work with ISU to develop a plan for the Ames Ice Arena.

“We need to incorporate an open area that is not congested where people can exercise,” he said.

Tedesco said the city should be involved with the Veishea celebration this spring.

“I want to work to provide a safe celebration and one that will continue for Iowa State,” Tedesco said.

“I don’t want to lose Veishea.”

In addition, Tedesco said he would like to extend Cy-Ride routes to surrounding communities.

“This will possibly help students who live outside of the Ames area,” he said.

To expand housing, Tedesco said he would like to annex land by expanding the city limits into Boone county.

“We need more land,” he said.

“If we had more land available, the price of land may be lowered.”

Tedesco added the city needs to explore more options on how to “contain the cost of housing” for students of ISU and the Ames community.