Ames City Council and Student Government hosted an open forum last Friday evening where students could ask City Council candidates about issues pertaining to students. Four students total attended the forum just a little over the week before elections.

The forum is the perfect microcosm for the relationship between City Council and the students at Iowa State. The forum, set up to create a space where students could voice concerns that extend beyond the university and into Ames life, was scheduled for 6 p.m. on a Friday night.

Scheduling anything at 6 p.m. on a Friday evening will do anything but encourage student involvement. But small issues like this show a lack of a strong, productive and considerate relationship between the two bodies.

During the forum, candidates talked about issues specifically related to students, including housing, students’ transition into the Ames community and transportation. These issues all directly affect students and City Council has a role in making these areas successful in Ames.

Multiple candidates touched on the fact that they felt as though students were not connected with the city as a whole or at least did not participate in much outside of the university. In reality, the city of Ames’ population is estimated at more than 63,000, according to the 2014 U.S. census estimate. Therefore, Iowa State’s 36,000 students are more than 50 percent of the city’s population and should be highly considered when these topics are discussed.

If students are such a large part of the city, shouldn’t both sides embrace each other and work to make the city better for all who live here? While it is clear that both sides take steps, as Ames City Council has a student representative as a nonvoting member and Student Government made an effort to set up this open forum, but is that enough to build a relationship between the two bodies?

Perhaps the first step to increasing students’ involvement with the city is helping them realize just how important the council is in their daily lives. The Ames City Council can affect things like the cost rates and routes of Cyride, which is many students’ only method of transportation, as well as fix any transportation shortcomings in the city. The City Council can also affect housing costs by allowing more companies to build apartments to reduce rental rates or change zoning to allow for more buildings.

In short, ISU students need to realize how much City Council affects their daily lives. The council touches almost every aspect of our daily lives, from every time you step in a CyRide, lock your West Ames apartment door or shop at a local store downtown.

Students can vote in City Council elections for the candidates in their ward, as we are considered residents of the Ames community. The ex-officio member of the council, Sam Schulte, is a Student Government-appointed student who serves as “the voice of student opinion and provides insight on various topics at Council meeting,” according to the council website. His job is to make sure students’ opinions are represented at council meetings. Reaching out to the student member is the easiest, yet an influential, way to make sure ISU students are considered in the conversation.

You can reach Schulte at: [email protected].