Student Government will be hosting its first official town hall of the new year, this time with an emphasis of bringing in community leaders to discuss safety issues facing students and campus.

Confirmed for the town hall event on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. is Ames Mayor John Haila, Ames Police Chief Charles Cychosz and Director of Student Wellness Mark Rowe-Barth.

Student Government Finance Director Steven Valentino, who also serves as the president of the CyRide Board of Directors, will also be seated on the panel.

The town hall will take place at the Multicultural Center in the Memorial Union. Topics include: substance abuse, the opioid epidemic, pedestrian safety, body cameras and community partnerships.

“It will be an opportunity for students to engage with community leaders that can be on issues such as opioids, substance abuse a whole … Campustown development and future plans in that area,” Student Government Vice President Cody Smith said. 

In the past, town halls have been used by Student Government to discuss  issues such as tuition and campus climate. The town halls became a routine event under the Cody West and Smith administration. 

According the Facebook page promoting the upcoming town hall, the first 45 minutes of the event will be dedicated to prepared questions with a public question-and-answer session afterward.

This town hall is the first formal one this year, with Student Government hosting a short one after an election information session in January for potential candidates to ask questions of current senators.

“I think with elections as the topic we [could] hopefully encourage more people to run — hopefully we can get more people to ask us questions,” Smith said. 

Despite low turnout as a whole, the town hall program will most likely continue into the next administration as both executive slates our campaigning to expand upon the event.