While President Clinton and would-be GOP challengers are courting Iowa voters, candidates in local races are rearing for an 11th-hour push.

Elections for positions on the Ames City Council and the Mary Greeley Medical Center Board of Directors will be held Tuesday, Nov. 7.

At-Large — City Council

Judie Hoffman and Sam Pritchard are running for the at-large seat on the City Council.

Judie Hoffman

Hoffman, who has been a City Council member since 1987, said Ames is at a turning point, a time of “increasing demands and dwindling resources.” The City Council, she said, must help provide quality services while controlling costs.

For example, Hoffman said, she will support spending more money to continue the Cy-Ride services as federal funding is decreased.

Hoffman said affordable housing in Ames is not as big a problem for students as it is for families, because students can pool their resources.

“A larger problem than just trying to find more housing is that minimum wage hasn’t kept up with the cost of housing in the community,” Hoffman said.

The new Land Use Policy Plan, a plan for growth and development in Ames, will provide an integrated transportation system and a mix of housing that will benefit students, Hoffman said.

Hoffman said she has served Iowa State students by increasing lighting in areas where students live and pushing for expanded bike paths and bus services. She said she has worked to get students on City Council committees, and she has been actively involved in helping students with Homecoming and Veishea.

Sam Pritchard

Pritchard, an Ames homemaker, said one of the reasons he is running for City Council is “money and the way we spend money as a city.” Pritchard said it is a reasonable option to find funding for Cy-Ride in the city budget’s options tax. He said he would not be in favor of raising taxes or fares.

“The budget of this town is hitting students as hard as it needs to,” he said.

Pritchard said one reason some students are violating rental codes by housing too many people in a dwelling, is because they can’t afford to live any other way. He said the decrease of students living in university housing and the boom in new apartment complexes at the expense of neighborhoods have compounded housing problems in the city.

The city should stop tearing down existing homes to build apartment complexes and try to integrate low-cost housing into existing neighborhoods, he said.

The Land Use Policy “runs a serious risk of being a disaster,” Pritchard said. He said the plan fails to look at community planning and the people involved.

Pritchard said he would like to see students and the entire university become more of a part of the community. He said he will not be able to do anything for students “if they don’t become a part of the larger community, the city.”

4th Ward — City Council

Annette Jensen, Margaret Okere, Herman Quirmbach and Bob Shaffer are running for the council’s 4th Ward spot. The district lies north of Lincoln Way and west of Stange Road.

Annette Jensen

Jensen, a commissioner for Ames Park and Recreation and a controller at Barber’s Metal Fabricating, said the city is facing a lot of difficult choices.

She said it is “imperative that we have Cy-Ride.” She would prefer “delaying some of the routes and spacing service out rather than deleting routes. I think we can be creative enough as a city and a university to maintain a level of service without raising fares,” Jensen said.

Jensen said the issue of affordable housing in Ames is difficult to address because more students want to live off campus and more nontraditional students come to ISU and need other housing options.

“A lot of people in the 4th Ward realize students are an important part of the city, but they want their neighborhoods to remain neighborhoods,” she said.

Jensen would like to see the city give more encouragement to interaction between small businesses and students to help “make the students feel they are part of the community.”

She said she would also like to provide students with more entertainment options.

Margaret Okere

Okere, a sociologist and an instructor at ISU and Des Moines Area Community College, said she hopes Cy-Ride services can be maintained without a considerable increase in student fees.

Okere is in favor of expanding the affordable housing programs in Ames, which include rent subsidies for apartments and subsidies for building new houses. Okere said as the ISU student body shifts to an older population with families, the issue will become more paramount.

Okere said she would like to work with the ISU chapter of Habitat for Humanity, a nationwide organization that works to provide affordable housing.

With the possible rezoning of areas around the university for higher-density housing, Okere said she is on the side of the neighborhoods who oppose the new apartment complexes.

Okere is surprised more students are not concerned with environmental issues in the Land Use Plan. Specifically, Okere is against a proposed development north of Ames.

“I want to see Ames grow in a way that will not impinge on the natural resources,” she said.

Herman Quirmbach

Quirmbach, an economics professor at ISU, said his expertise in economics could help the city. Cy-Ride is of critical interest to students, he said.

“I think we’re down to the options of asking the city and the university to increase their support,” Quirmbach said.

Quirmbach said he is focusing on the affordability of housing and the services provided to housing developments in new areas included in the Land Use Plan. He said he is also concerned with park land.

“We need to identify the environmental priority areas,” Quirmbach said.

Quirmbach said he has worked to get students registered to vote in the upcoming elections. “The turnout for municipal elections is distressingly low,” he said. “It is important to include students in the decision-making process.”

Bob Shaffer

Shaffer, a write-in candidate for the 4th Ward, said Cy-Ride will probably require more funding from the city budget, and some of the longer-distance routes may have to be curtailed. He suggested greater funding will have to come from GSB, and Night Ride may have to be eliminated to keep day routes.

Shaffer said the city government is moving forward in providing affordable housing, but he thinks most unmarried students have plenty of available living space in the residence halls.

He said he has “never been a real champion of the Land Use Policy plan” because he feels the decisions should have been left to neighborhood coalitions. He doesn’t think the plan will greatly affect students.

Shaffer feels there has always been a good, ongoing relationship between the city and the university. But, he said he would like to see a liaison between law enforcement and the student population.

“I would like to see their presence at GSB meetings. The closer they can become related, especially to the greek system, the better and more smoother operations will be,” Shaffer said.

John Parks

John Parks is an uncontested candidate for the 2nd Ward, which lies east of Stange Road, west of Grand Avenue and north of Lincoln Way. He has been on the council since 1980.

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Patricia Brown, Judith Clem, Dale Messenger and Mark Power are all candidates for one position on the Mary Greeley Medical Center Board of Trustees.