Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen, the Ward 1 Representative on the Ames City Council, has served on the council for 11 years.

Beatty-Hansen, originally from Emmetsburg, Iowa, came to Ames to study Political Science at ISU, where she got her bachelor’s and master’s in political science. 

Currently, Beatty-Hansen’s day job is at the Wheatsfield Cooperative, which is a natural foods co-op. She has worked there for 23 years and is the operations manager, the HR manager and the beer and wine buyer. 

Beatty-Hansen is currently serving as the Ward 1 Representative, which spans from downtown to south of 13th St., and it encompasses some of the south campus. In the past, she also served as the at-large representative on the council. 

When asked what originally sparked her to run for council, Beatty-Hansen said, “I just was interested. I love the concept of community and community involvement. I’ve always had an interest in that and in politics. It was my area of study, and in fact, I did my master’s thesis on citizen satisfaction with local city services and how that related to a representative’s philosophy of representing.” 

There are no term limits for city council members; they can run again once their usual four-year term is up. Many council members expressed that there is low interest in people running for office, which is why they stay in office for so long.

“I have never had an opponent in the past three elections,” Beatty-Hansen said. “Sometimes I kind of lament that it would actually help the public be more engaged. I wish that more people were interested in running, or maybe they don’t know how, and then I would love to advise them. If they are interested, they can always come ask any of us on the council; we would give them good entry advice.”

Being a city council member is a part-time job, and depending on what is going on in the community, the time commitment changes. It involves a lot of meetings with constituents, attending events and reviewing the information packets before city council meetings. City council members currently make around $10,000 a year. 

To give the constituents a fun insight into the council meetings, Beatty-Hansen takes notes filled with doodles. She posts them on the ames_councilor page on Instagram, Reddit, Threads, Substack and NextDoor. She does this to get the information out there in a fun way so that people know what they are talking about. Beatty-Hansen also sends out an email newsletter before each council meeting to let people know what will be on the agenda and to provide a brief overview of each topic. 

When asked what her favorite thing about being a city council member is, Beatty-Hansen said, “I think that ultimately the reason I went into it and still do it is that I want to help people and my community. I feel driven to assist, and it feels like a way to do that. I like to think of it as public service; that’s how I think of my role.”

The hardest part of being a city council member, Beatty-Hansen said, is “learning how to weather criticism. I want to help, and I am also kind of a people pleaser, but you cannot please everyone all the time. Sometimes I have to learn how to let criticism roll off because I know it’s not intended at me personally but rather people’s frustrations with government more generally.”

“I would like to reassure people that we do listen and we are responsive,” Beatty-Hansen said. “I think there is a level of distrust in government, not just Ames, so this is not just a local thing, but it’s going on nationally, I would say. We are listening, and specifically to students, I would say it is super important that they pay attention to what we’re doing here in Ames, because it does impact them. You are half of our population, and it is an important voice for us to hear.”

Beatty-Hansen’s favorite part about Ames is that “it is a small town with some big town amenities, so it’s still very much a community where you can know your neighbors. Ames also benefits from diverse cultures and influences, especially because of the university’s presence. There are opportunities for learning about different cultures, traditions, religions, foods or music.”