Spring Break
Students attend council meeting, want fair treatment
Proposed housing ordinance leads to controversy; Student Senate external affairs chair says 'not right tool for the job.'
By: Amanda Grosgebauer and Jason Deuterman
Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: News
To launch discussion to the council members and the rest of the chambers, Mayor Ben White opened with an address to the crowd reminding them of the special community we share in College Station, and the respect that is inherently understood within it.
"College Station [is] a community of citizens, but with that little something extra - a University that is known for its tradition, conservative values and friendly nature."
White said citizens must assume the responsibilities that go hand-in-hand with those benefits, which include cooperative problem solving when community tension arises. Speaking straight to the housing ordinance proposal, White said, "We must seek creative ways to deal with not just this issue, but those of the future."
Council members John Crompton and James Massey began the open discussion with questions towards the city's recommended actions and strategies. Their questions revealed that many of the issues brought up by residents could be remedied if the city's departments where simply organized differently and that many of the recommendations are only practical if a rental registration is put into place.
A rental registration would mean all residents included on a lease would have to register their contact information, thus creating a database that would allow everyone to know who lives in each residence. In 2005, College Station had a rental registration and according to the council members present who put an end to it, the mandatory registration proved to be inefficient and too time consuming.
Speaker of the Student Senate Tyler Koch was the first to address the council from the crowd. Koch quickly ran through Powerpoint slides highlighting the student proposal, "Living with Aggies."
"The student proposal creates a win-win situation for everyone," said Koch, "the students win more responsibility within off-campus living and the rest of the neighborhood wins more inclusive cooperation on student-renter issues."
"College Station [is] a community of citizens, but with that little something extra - a University that is known for its tradition, conservative values and friendly nature."
White said citizens must assume the responsibilities that go hand-in-hand with those benefits, which include cooperative problem solving when community tension arises. Speaking straight to the housing ordinance proposal, White said, "We must seek creative ways to deal with not just this issue, but those of the future."
Council members John Crompton and James Massey began the open discussion with questions towards the city's recommended actions and strategies. Their questions revealed that many of the issues brought up by residents could be remedied if the city's departments where simply organized differently and that many of the recommendations are only practical if a rental registration is put into place.
A rental registration would mean all residents included on a lease would have to register their contact information, thus creating a database that would allow everyone to know who lives in each residence. In 2005, College Station had a rental registration and according to the council members present who put an end to it, the mandatory registration proved to be inefficient and too time consuming.
Speaker of the Student Senate Tyler Koch was the first to address the council from the crowd. Koch quickly ran through Powerpoint slides highlighting the student proposal, "Living with Aggies."
"The student proposal creates a win-win situation for everyone," said Koch, "the students win more responsibility within off-campus living and the rest of the neighborhood wins more inclusive cooperation on student-renter issues."
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