Sixth Ward Race: Seeking students opinion discussed
Published March 24, 2006
On April 4, residents of the Sixth Ward can vote in the election to fill a vacancy left by councilman Brian Ash. Registered voters can look up their polling place at showmeboone.com/clerk. The polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Maneater has been looking into the candidates' main platform ideas in the issues leading up to the election.
In this final installment, The Maneater asked the candidates and Ash about representation of student concerns in the Sixth Ward, which includes the student-populated East Campus.
Valerie Barnes, real estate agent:
Barnes said she wants to make it clear that the Sixth Ward has expanded past East Campus to include many new developments, commercial buildings, single-family homes and student-occupied apartments along Old 63.
"It will be very important that the newly elected council person for this ward have an open mind and balanced position when it comes to the representation of all of the ward," Barnes said. "Everyone is welcome to call or drop me an e-mail, and I will definitely take their concerns into consideration."
Barbara Hoppe, attorney for the state public defender:
Hoppe said she already knows many students because she is active in MU's community and her husband teaches at Columbia College.
Also, one of her daughters teaches at the MSA/GPC Craft Studio.
"I know lots and lots of students," Hoppe said. "I love to do things downtown. My daughter invites me out to dinner and we go dancing at Mojo's. I would invite anyone to contact me and e-mail me with any issues they are concerned about."
Sixth Ward Councilman Brian Ash:
Ash said though he has not been very active in going out of his way to initiate a dialogue with students, he said has done a good job of responding to people when they express concerns.
Ash owns Bambino's Italian Café and is surrounded by students at the restaurant.
"It helps that I'm around college students all the time because most of my employees are college students," he said. "We have occasionally had discussions of issues coming before the council and that has been very helpful."