After the decision made at the Ames City Council meeting to wait until Tuesday for the decision to repeal the face covering ordinance, students who are also members of the council expressed their hopes and thoughts about the coming event.

Iowa State student representative Trevor Poundstone said he supported the decision of the council to wait to discuss the ordinance repeal because the information had already been presented to the public that this was going to be discussed Tuesday. He thought that complicating this by creating another earlier meeting to speed up the process would only create difficulties for attendance due to schedules and prior commitments, hindering the amount of public input. 

Iowa State students have a voice on the Ames City Council, and Poundstone wanted to encourage and remind students to share their opinions at the coming meeting, as the decision made will affect them. 

“It’s not just my opinion that I’m worried about; I am worried about the students’ opinions,” Poundstone said. “I imagine some are upset [about the council’s decision to wait] because they wanted the ordinance to end last night, but from the outreach we did, I know some students and community members will be happy that it didn’t end last night.” 

Students and faculty have been experiencing the university through a pandemic-era lens for over a year now, and many are eager to have a traditional encounter with Iowa State if the mask ordinance is repealed. Iowa State graduate student and Ward 4 Rep. Rachel Junck said she expects students and the Ames community to have a fairly positive response to the upcoming vote because of how long everyone has waited for normalcy. 

“We have all been through tough times in the pandemic this past year, and it’s exciting to be getting back to a point where we can safely gather together again without masks,” Junck said. “I would encourage all that can to get a vaccine to continue protecting our community, as the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] recommends that individuals who are not vaccinated continue wearing their face coverings.”

Public input is expected and supported by all council members, and the student members highly appreciate any student feedback in regards to Ames City Council matters. Poundstone can be reached at [email protected].