Bowling Green city council will be holding elections Nov. 8, and for two University students, this means more than showing up to the polling booth to cast their votes.
Ashley Harlett, a junior middle-childhood education major, is running for the position of first ward council member. On the Republican ticket, she said uniting Bowling Green residents with the students is one of her main concerns.
“I think we need student representation on city council because we live in a college town so it’s important to get a different opinion about issues that involve students and make sure they are not ignored,” Harlett said.
The first ward’s current council member, Sarah Tomashefski, was a student at the University for her first two terms on council and agrees that keeping the community connected with the students is essential.
“BGSU is a big part of the Bowling Green community, it is what makes this such a great place to live,” Tomashefski said. “Because of this, it is important that someone who is connected with the cares and concerns of BGSU is on the city council.”
Being an active part of the community is very important to Harlett so she thought Ward 1, mostly made up of students, was an appropriate path.
“I like to be a leader, I like to represent students,” she said. “I think having a student on council would really show how students live, work and what their real needs are; I know I could do a good job of bringing those to the table.”
Ashley Gilbert, a third year business pre-law student, will also run on the Republican ticket, but her race will be for the second ward council.
After getting involved in the campus’ College Republicans, and supporting the Bush/Cheney campaign, Gilbert decided she was interested in running for a seat on Bowling Green’s city council.
“I think it is so important for there to be students on the council because about half of the city is made up of students. Without the University, Bowling Green wouldn’t be as great of a city as it is. And we really need to concentrate on the city/University relations.”
John Zanfardino, the current second ward council member and Gilbert’s contender in November, said it is “extremely” important for students to get involved in the community. The more students that are interested, even in a public hearing, the more change that can take place and the greater the impact will be, even in a small town like Bowling Green, he said.
“[The election process] must be a great experience for my running-mate because I know it’s a great experience for me,” Zanfardino said. “If there was a student on the council, BGSU students would have an inherent, active voice, but I feel that in general, a good council member should recognize that they have two constituencies.”
Gilbert said one of the greatest struggles within the second ward is that long-term residents are unhappy living near University students.
“Right now the students don’t have much say in this matter and they live here too,” Gilbert said. “What I want to do is bring the students and long-term residents together so we can have one strong voice.”
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