To the Editors:

Eve Sandburg, Daniel Gardner, and Charles Peterson are running together for Oberlin City Council on a slate because they share common visions for Oberlin. All three of these candidates want to run a campaign based on ideas which will improve Oberlin in a wide array of areas, ranging from housing issues, economic development, education, and the environment.

More importantly, they have the innovative, progressive, pro-active solutions that can make these ideas into reality. These ideas and goals were learned in part from the series of listening sessions the candidates have held across town. This personal connection to the citizens gives them the ability to find out what it is that needs to be fixed and how does the town feel on various subjects.

It is also important to mention that these candidates are in-touch with the educational community and understand how to best represent the town and the college, which form the community of Oberlin together.

Eve Sandburg is a professor of Politics here at Oberlin and has been active in government and community work for more than thirty years.

Charles Peterson, the husband of Meredith Gadsby, a professor in the Oberlin department of African American Studies, is a professor of Black Studies at Wooster College.

Daniel Gardner is an alumnus of Oberlin College and has participated in the College community by serving as the Director of Community Affairs as well as heading up the Center for Service and Learning. Daniel was also involved with the Grassroots Leadership program, serves on the board of Oberlin Design Initiative, and has been involved with a number of other boards and commissions in Oberlin and Lorain County.

These candidates have the original ideas, the drive and intelligence to make these ideas into real policy, and the desire to make sure that the policies benefit the overall community of Oberlin. But why should you, as a student of Oberlin, care about what happens to this town? I mean you’re only here for 4-5 years, correct? Consider the fact that the average American spends about 5 years living in one place of residence.

This is only to say that we, as students, have a home away from home here at Oberlin. We are part of this community and as such, we should take an active role and elect those who we feel can best represent us as well as those who we can connect with.

One way that we can start to take this active role is by informing ourselves about the candidates and going to the polls on Tuesday.

-Freddrick Effinger
College junior