Ames City Council members answered students’ questions at a panel hosted by Turning Point USA at ISU, calling for people to get into contact with people of other political opinions Thursday.

Tim Gartin, ward two representative in the Ames City Council, said that political discourse in friend groups is important. 

The panel included Gartin and Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen, one of the city’s at-large representatives.

“If all of your friends look like you, think like you and vote like you, you need some new friends,” Gartin said.

Carson Foglesong, a junior majoring in marketing and management, said he gained helpful advice. 

“I think [Gartin] makes an amazing point that we can’t just be in our own echo chambers,” he said. 

Beatty-Hansen said getting involved in local politics on a small level is a great first step.

“It helps to meet people, what you need to do if you’re going to campaign for an office,” she said. “But it also helps you gain awareness of issues in your town.”  

Abbey Ross, a sophomore majoring in agricultural business and the events chair of Turning Point USA at ISU, said the panel was a success.

“I feel like we touched on a lot of different subjects and I think that I found out a lot of things that I didn’t know the city government was in charge of,” she said.

The panel also answered questions regarding the founding of small businesses in Ames.

“We really want to make Ames a place to start a business,” Gartin said.

Beatty-Hansen spoke about the idea of an incubator space to make Ames attractive for the founding of small businesses and staying after graduation. The idea would include starting an incubator space in an underutilized commercial space in the city, driven by the city or the university or both as partners.

The topic of gaps in the public transportation system was mentioned as well.

“We are very committed to seeing Ames be connected, for environmental purposes, as an amenity, for recreation,” Gartin said. 

The transit system is supposed to bring all kinds of benefits by making places accessible for people on foot and bike and by bus.

Expanding the bus system to places that are not included right now will not be possible at this point because it would be too expensive, both Gartin and Beatty-Hansen said. But Gartin said there is an effort to strengthen the city’s bike travel infrastructure.

Beatty-Hansen responded to a question on water safety and said that very low levels of PFAS, also called “forever chemicals,” had been found in Ames water, but they were found at a level that is not dangerous. 

“I think it’s a chemical to be conscious of but the use of it is being phased out as we’ve discovered the danger of that chemical,” she said. 

Apart from getting into contact with people of other political opinions, Gartin also gave advice on the consumption of news.

“I want to read articles of people that I disagree with, not just reaffirm what I already think,” he said. “That’s healthy for you. So get out of the echo chamber.”