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By Kanupriya Arora

	Democracy in action: Town residents and College students voted last Tuesday at city council elections.

Four new faces joined three incumbents on a victory march this Wednesday after the election results for Oberlin City Council were announced. Two school board members were also elected. Both bodies will meet for the first time with the new members early next year.

From a pool of 15 candidates, the three-member slate endorsed by the AFL-CIO, consisting of Daniel J. Gardner, Eve Sandberg and Charles Peterson won the first, second and fifth council seats respectively. Other elected candidates were William J. Jindra, Ronnie J. Rimbert, Everett E. Tyree, and Sharon Fairchild Soucy.

Carol L. Williamson and Assistant Dean of Conservatory Marci Alegant were elected onto the school board.

The council is currently facing challenges stemming from the College’s housing construction plans, the state of Oberlin businesses, and the possibility of a Wal-Mart construction on U.S. Route 20.

Last week, the candidates assembled at First Church to offer their opinions and solutions regarding these issues to Oberlin residents and College students. This forum proved to play an important role for many voters.

“I think everyone needs to know what [the candidates] are going to do if we vote for them,” one town resident said, “Because that’s the reason we vote for them.”

The Gardner/Sandberg/Peterson slate seemed to carry momentum all along, especially for Oberlin College students.

“I’m personally thrilled that the trio won,” OC Democrat Melissa Threadgill said.

“I believe I can speak on behalf of our slate when I say that we are honored and grateful that so many people decided that the issues and programs we addressed throughout the campaign should be entrusted to our care,” council-elect and Oberlin politics professor Eve Sandberg said. “We were thrilled by the margin and the placement of our slate at the first, second and fifth spots.”

“I’ve experienced a dizzying array of emotions since seeing the results come in on Tuesday night,” council-elect and former College employee Daniel Gardner said. “I am honored to have been elected, daunted by the implied expectations of those who supported us and sad that the inevitable consequence of a big group of candidates is that some very good, experienced people were not also elected.”

“In particular, City Council will miss Jim White’s quiet diplomacy and leadership, Ken Sloane’s ability to take the notion of sustainability beyond slogans and Phil Verda’s knack for asking the right questions,” Gardner said. “The other candidates also had some good ideas, and I hope we’ll be able to do something about them.”

College sophomore Eli Rosenfeld, who also ran for council membership, earned 267 votes in the election. He could not be reached for comments.

Although it is too early to confirm figures, as many as 400 College students are estimated to have voted this Tuesday.

“This means that student votes were critical,” Threadgill said. “If you look, the difference between the 5th seat [Charles Peterson] and the 8th [Kenneth Sloane], for example, was like 115 votes.”

The OC Democrats did not endorse any particular council candidates, but provided nonpartisan “Get Out The Vote” services to educate College students about all candidates and to encourage students to vote.

“The Democrats, as a group, are just thrilled that so many students came out to vote and that student votes were crucial,” Threadgill said.

“As a Professor of Politics as well as a staunch supporter of expanded civic engagement, I have always encouraged students to get involved and to vote,” Sandberg remarked. “It was ironic, therefore, for me this year to have to avoid any discussion of elections in my classes in an effort to be certain that no student felt even a glimmer of inappropriate behavior on my part.”

The elected members are gearing up for their term in office and planning ways to tackle the major issues facing the city at present, such as the College housing proposals.

“We need to start working with the College on projects which should be of mutual interest such as creating a parking fund which takes money the College would have spent on building underused parking lots and instead use it to create parking in places where we do need it, like the downtown,” council-elect Charles Peterson said.

“We hope to work to create an Oberlin in which the resources of the city are used to support the efforts of all hard working people who need just a bit of assistance to pursue their goals,” Sandberg said. “This will be especially important in the area of securing desirable housing without centrification.”

“We would like to see Oberlin adopt progressive policies that utilize the ‘best practices’ from other communities and also to contribute some ‘model pilot programs’ of our own that other communities might want to try,” Sandberg said, describing her vision for the city.

“In our neighborhood meetings throughout the campaign we heard many fine ideas and hope to work with residents to enact some of them,” she added. “There is great talent and creativity throughout all the sub-communities that comprise Oberlin; we hope to tap into those talent resources.”

Gardner echoed this sentiment.

“The key is going to be to provide a way for ideas to become reality,” he said. “That’s where Charles’ strengths in framing issues, Eve’s knowledge of crafting policies, and my consensus building skills will help. So the vision is a more inclusive, more agile city government.”

He also expressed delight at the participation of Oberlin College students. “I do want to say this to the students who voted: stay involved,” he said.

Sandberg pointed out that the current City Council will make many decisions before new members begin their term in January, and encouraged residents and students to participate in the process.

“I encourage folks to drop in and hear what goes on, and to communicate with council when you have ideas to share,” she said.

Council meetings are held every other Monday evening in the court chambers near the Oberlin Public Library.