Bryce Garman, the student serving as the ex-officio on the Ames City Council, resigned with three months left on his term, citing new opportunities. Garman attended his last meeting Jan. 10.

So far this year, the ex-officio seat at the council has been vacant during one regular meeting, three budget hearings, the budget overview meeting and the workshop on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan.

“Over winter break, I was approached with other opportunities for personal growth, so I had to reevaluate my priorities,” Garman said. “[The ex-officio] talks about issues that are facing students that both the city and Student Government can touch on, whether that’s mental health resources […], the bike pedestrian master plan, they’re able to get input from students.”

The ex-officio is within the Student Government presidential cabinet and has to be appointed by the president and vice president then confirmed by the student senate. Typically, the ex-officio role is confirmed after a new Student Government takes office in April and serves one year.

“A lot of the time, I would sit at city council, and nothing on the agenda was really impacting students,” Garman said. “As much as I loved serving on the city council– it was a great opportunity– it was just a lot of time.”

Stepping in as ex-officio during the Jan. 24 meeting, Iowa State Student Government President Jacob Ludwig, a senior double majoring in economics and political science, told the council he was hopeful the spot would be filled before the Jan. 31 meeting. Not only was the spot not filled, but the ex-officio seat was empty during the workshop on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan.

Ludwig said he would fill in as the acting ex-officio until a nominee is confirmed but has not attended a meeting since Jan. 24, citing a lack of issues affecting students.

“Typically, student issues do not come up during the budget hearings, but going forward, I’ll be attending the meetings in place of the ex-officio until we get someone to fill the role or our term end,” Ludwig said.

Ward 4 Rep. and Iowa State graduate student Rachel Junck said she hopes the vacancy is filled sooner rather than later.

“It would be kind of difficult for a student to jump in right now as we’re going through our budget process,” Junck said. “I think that the ex-officio is a really important position to be able to advocate for students.”

Ludwig said he is having trouble finding students to fill the position with upcoming elections and the ongoing spring semester. He hopes to find someone who will fill the role until April of 2024 and has experience with the city.

“It’s always a little difficult, especially with an important position like that, to fill it mid-year,” Ludwig said. “If we get to probably the end of February and we haven’t found someone who is willing to take up the role, I’d probably be fine just filling out for the rest of the semester.”

Ludwig said any student can apply on their website and there is no deadline for applications, but he wants interested students to fill it out as soon as possible.

Garman and Ludwig said the resignation was amicable, and there was no malice surrounding the situation.

“[I was] obviously disappointed. I would’ve loved to keep Bryce around, especially for the rest of the year,” Ludwig said. “Obviously [I] would’ve preferred that he stayed, but Bryce has his reasons for going and that’s entirely up to him.”

Garman said the most important role of the ex-officio is planning the joint meeting between the council and Student Government. Ludwig said the original date Garman planned for this semester will have to be changed due to a lack of available space and is looking to hold the meeting sometime in March or early April.

Junck said Garman met the expectations she had for the ex-officio role.

“He did a great job of getting input from people at Iowa State and then voicing some of that to the council on the issues that really mattered for students,” Junck said.