HomeMy WebLinkAboutA006 - USCC(University-Student-City-Commission) proposal for increased involvement University-Student-City
Commission
FILED D- K. Holger
DATE: February 22, 1983 r-°- Chairperson
TO: Mayor Paul Goodland 0 2 4 1M
FROM: David K. Ho 1 ger Dc.� CITY CLERK
Chairman, USCC arr of AMES, IOWA e
RE: Proposal for increased USCC involvement as, a forum for the resol.ut%on of
"neighborhood dilemmas"
You have asked me to comment on the proposal for increased USCC involvement
in the resolution of neighborhood dilemmas, and I appreciate the opportunity
to do so. I. am in basic agreement with all points made in the proposal . In
particular, I agree that neighborhood problems associated with noise, park-
ing, property appearance, etc. are best resolved by the neighborhood in ques-
tion if that is possible. When neighborhoods are unable to resolve such
problems internally, a forum as could be provided by the USCC should prove
helpful . Especially in view of the points raised by John Klaus pertaining
to public perception of the offenses in question, such a forum should be
valuable. Most people realize that excessive noise, for example, can be
offensive, but somehow police enforcement of an ordinance does not seem appro-
priate--except perhaps as a last resort.
Implementation of the resolution by forum idea does present some difficulties,
regardless of what body is chosen as the forum. In the case of the USCC, the
following potential difficulties occurred to me as I read the proposal and
accompanying material . In general , the comments have to do with the accepta-
bility to all parties of the USCC as the appropriate forum for resolution of
neighborhood dilemmas. The comments are based on personal perceptions of the
USCC which may not be shared by others in Ames and even if they are, those
perceptions are certainly subject to change.
1 . The USCC is perceived to be a forum for issues impacting or involving
the University and students and the community. it has not, to my knowl-
edge, been used in the past as a forum for University-Student issues
that do not directly involve the community; nor has i.t been used as a
forum for community issues that do not directly involve students and/or
the University. It seems to me that the proposal implies that the USCC
will serve as a forum i.n cases where neither students nor the University
are directly involved. I have no personal objection to such a change In
USCC involvement in the community, but it does seem to be a change.
2703 Meadow Glen Road, Ames, IA 50010 (515) 292-4466
Mayor Paul Goodland
Page 2
February 22, 1983
2. Making the USCC the forum for neighborhood problems of the type
described gives the impression that the problems result from student/
University vs community resident conflicts. In a city such as Ames ,
this impression is perhaps accurate in some respects. I am certain
that many of the typical problems to be addressed by the proposed
forum would involve students and/or the University in some way. How-
ever, I am convinced that the types of problems being considered re-
sult from basic conflicts between the objectives of investor/developer/
landlords and renters and resident property owners. In a sense, this
comment is philosophical since in Ames most renters are probably either
students or University affiliated in some way. However, I believe that
is is a mistake to give the impression that neighborhood nuisance type
problems are primarily due to students .
3. There are areas in Ames removed from the University, where neighborhood
groups are very concerned about issues such as noise, duplex conversion,
zoning and parking. The North Grand Mall area and downtown area are two
examples. It is going to be difficult for those neighborhoods to regard
the USCC (at least initially) as a forum for their concerns.
4. In connection with comments (1) and (3) , I 'm not sure that the present
membership structure of the USCC is going to make it easy for neighbor-
hoods to regard it as an appropriate forum. The current membership con-
sists of three city members , two neighborhood association representatives,
three university members and seven student members of various affilia-
tions. I 'm afraid that this membership distribution will cause both
landlords and neighborhood groups to feel that the forum is "stacked"
against them.
DKH/bsn