Ames City Council hopefuls participated in a public forum Friday presented by the Ames Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development at the City Church of Ames-Des Moines.

The forum allowed the five City Council contenders to outline their platforms and answer questions raised by the public. The forum was hosted by and broadcasted on local radio station KASI.

The five participants were Matt Converse and Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen, at-large candidates; Tim Gartin, an incumbent running unopposed for the 2nd Ward; and Dan DeGeest and incumbent Chris Nelson, 4th Ward candidates.

Each of the participants were given two minutes to introduce themselves and their goals for the city of Ames before answering a series of questions prepared by KASI’s Trent Rice and submitted by audience members.

Many of the questions focused on growing and expanding business and housing opportunities in the Ames community.

“I think [the forum] is an opportunity for people who have specific interests, in this case economic development … to channel questions in a more focused way,” 1st Ward Councilwoman Gloria Betcher said.

Betcher attended the Chamber of Commerce’s forum along with at-large Representative Amber Corrieri and 3rd Ward Councilman Peter Orazem.

Corrieri said public forums are a good way to reach out to voters who may not closely follow local politics or do not know some of the candidates.

“We would love it if the students were interested in these elections,” said Betcher, who is also an adjunct associate professor at Iowa State. “The Ward 4 and the at-large representatives will have a big impact on what’s happening at the university.”