Ames mayoral candidate Victoria Szopinski said that she feels people need to be heard and know they’re being heard.

“It’s all about relationship building,” Szopinski said. “Asking people, engaging and appreciating that there’s a lot of knowledge out there and we can figure these things out together … People want to help. They just need to be asked.”

Szopinski feels that it is important for Ames to keep the Resolution to Reaffirm the Public Safety Function of Law Enforcement.

“There are cities that have stood up and I think I’d do the same and say ‘you know what, pull the money.’ I think it’s in numbers. If enough cities stand up and say ‘fine, pull our money, but we have values.’ Then it’s not going to happen.”

The state legislature recently passed a law stating this ordinance was illegal because they felt it opened the door for discrimination. Being involved in local and state politics, Szopinski believes she has a nuanced position on the matter.

“University communities are different. We need to build a relationship between the university and students who live off campus. We used to have an off-campus housing office. Other universities have liaison people who are the first line of helping students… be better neighbors,” Szopinski said in her profile with the Daily.

While Szopinski sat on the Iowa ACLU board of directors that supported the state legislature’s decision, she personally felt that college towns should be given unique consideration and opposed the legislation.

Szopinski said during the Nov. 2 candidate forum hosted by student government that she feels the city should be monitoring the lease gap more closely and putting regulations in place to ensure students are in safe living conditions.

“It’s our responsibility to make sure that you’re safe and you’re being treated fairly. The gap, to me, is just part of a much larger relationship issue between students and landlords,” Szopinski said in her September profile in the Daily. “I’m not afraid to say yes, I do [think landlords take advantage of students] because I talk to students and that’s what I’m hearing.”

When asked about tangible actions Szopinski would take to increase inclusion of black residents in Ames at the Oct. 18 forum at the Ames Public Library, she focused on her experience with the Body of Christ Church and the Ames Progressive Alliance. Szopinski also mentioned the benefits of implicit bias training.

“Questions to do with, or asking about race, are probably the most complicated questions and sometimes we fear that we are going to say the wrong thing even when we are trying to say the right thing,” Szopinski said. “I have been around for a long time, I have lived in a lot of different places, personally I have tried very hard, I personally want to facilitate better relations. I can not make individuals necessarily behave better but I can certainly strive to gather other individuals and other groups who I know are eager to do better.”