City to look at uniting leaders of Ames, ISU
City council member Tim Gartin listens to the representatives regarding the topic of contracting Emerson for their power plant for $1,595,000. Gartin would later put his opinion into the conversation at the special meeting March 10.
March 10, 2015
The Ames and ISU communities are missing out on an important chance to benefit from each other, said council member Gloria Betcher at Tuesday’s Special City Council Meeting.
The council approved a report Betcher requested for the city staff to create about how other college communities interact with universities in order to create better communication between the two.
Betcher said she wants the city to revisit the “One Community” initiative that came out of the 2004 Veishea task force. The task force meant to create a One Community Commission that would bring leaders at Iowa State and leaders in the city together in order to benefit from the work both entities do.
Though the council approved the report, they were hesitant to agree to bringing a One Community commission.
Ex-Officio Lissa Villa said she was concerned that a One Community Commission would not be any different than the Student Affairs Commission already being created. Villa said the Student Affairs Commission would bring leaders together with a task force structure so they have a specific goal and conversation in the meetings.
Betcher said she wants both commissions to work in tandem. There are many organizations in Ames that champion specific issues, but there is no organization to bring them together.
“There isn’t any overarching body that’s trying to bring together those silos. What I see from my students is that they don’t feel like they’ve been integrated in the Ames community,” said Betcher, who is also an English professor at Iowa State.
Council member Peter Orazem said he believes the council’s job is to bring community members together, not a separate commission. Betcher also said task forces are often too specific and are project-based, meaning they only tackle one issue at a time, leaving no organization for open discussion.
“If we’re not giving these people projects, than they’re just coming together to have coffee and discuss things,” said council member Amber Corrieri.
The city staff will report back to the City Council on how other college towns similarly sized to Ames integrate members of their communities.
