With University students making up just under 70 percent of Bowling Green’s population, Mayor John Quinn is urging students to take a role in local government. In the upcoming November election all four ward council positions and two council-at-large positions will be on the ballot.

The Feb.17 deadline to turn in petitions to run for city council is quickly approaching and Quinn said that he has seen little enthusiasm from community members to run for council.

“I think we are very anxious to see citizens of any age run for city council,” he said.

Quinn was recently on campus to talk to the College Republicans in hopes of sparking interest. He explained that since a large percentage of students make up the population of the city, the University should have a voice on council. The 2000 census reported Bowling Green’s population as 29,636. The University reports an enrollment of 20,300 total students, including undergraduate and graduate students. Students make up the majority of the population of the city.

“Any time the University has a voice it benefits the students and staff,” Quinn said.

Sarah Tomashefski, first ward council member, agreed that because students make up such a large proportion of the city that it is important that their concerns are represented. In 1999 Tomashefski put this philosophy into action and campaigned for her current position. At that time she was a junior at the University. “My parents just patted me on the head and thought it was just some passing phase,” she said.

But her interest in council turned out not to just be a phase.

She is now in her third term and sixth year of being on council. She learned her spot by working hard to campaign. She spent seven days a week dividing her time between attending city council meetings, going to events in the city and on campus and going door to door to introduce herself to the ward.

Tomashefski also attributes her first victory to her involvement on campus before deciding to run. She stressed that a student will already have support if they are involved on campus in organizations.

“Anyone who decides to run and is not currently involved in things may find themselves a little bit behind,” she said.

She also pointed out that it’s a good first step to be involved in a political organization. She started out as a member of College Democrats, and received a good amount of financial support and help fund raising though the Democratic party. Running for city council can become pricy because of things like campaign advertisements, yard signs and other devices that are used to get the public’s attention.

Tomashefski’s campaigning efforts were successful in getting her elected, but then came the next challenge, acclimating to her new duties. She said at first she was intimidated, even though she had been attending meetings for a year as an observer.

“It’s hard sometimes because you don’t know all of the ins and outs,” she said. “When you are trying to figure all of that out you are coming from a disadvantage.”

She quickly learned that she had to represent her constituents equally and not just focus on student’s issues. She said that it is hard for a student to get elected and especially re-elected if they don’t fight for residents in their ward as hard as they fight for students. The only way for her to get respect from the other members was to listen.

“You are one voice on city council,” she said. “If you come at it and aren’t willing to look at both sides you won’t get very far.”

Mayor Quinn also advised that students need to consider the responsibility that they will be taking on as council members before running.

“They have to realize that it is a year round job, and they have to realize that they represent more than the student body,” he said.

Both Quinn and Tomashafski agreed that being on council can be a wonderful experience for students because they get to practice what they are learning in the classroom in the real world. Tomashafski said that being on council is like no other experience and recommended that if students have a true interest, they should run.

Students who are interested in running for a ward position must turn in a petition with at least 25 signatures and no more than 75 signatures to the Wood County Board of Elections along with a $45 filing fee. They must also live in the ward where they run for two years while they are serving as a council member.