Un-welcome back. Probably not the greeting you expected, nor the one you deserve, but certainly the most fitting considering the climate of student-city relations these days.
The Washington Post reporter Susan Kinzie’s interview with College Park resident Harry Pitt earlier this month summed it up nicely: “It’s a nice place to live,” Pitt said, “in the summer.” The summer is also apparently a nice time for the city council to pass some legislation. An absurd 24-hour ban on visitor parking near the Knox Boxes happened while students were away. So did an expansion on the city’s noise ordinances that will allow fines to be levied on parties that thump their bass too loud.
The precedent for student unfriendly action was set last January, when the city elected two council members while students were away. They later passed legislation that prevented special elections from falling during winter break, touting it as a example of what the council can do for you – Joe Student.
The anti-student rhetoric spouted among city residents isn’t new. It has long spoiled even the most student-friendly legislation suggested by progressive-thinking elected officials. Just this year, Mayor Stephen Brayman and District 2 Councilman Bob Catlin made a good-faith effort to negotiate with student leaders on state legislation that could have disincentivized off-campus student housing. Jack Perry, the councilman who also represents District 2, led a resident revolt at a community meeting over the negotiations.
The agreement forged with student leaders was cut at the last minute.
It makes you wonder: Is the council pulling a fast one? We don’t think it’s gotten to that point. But the idea of student as constituent has certainly been lost on most. That has to change.
Now that we’re back and well rested, it’s time to reclaim our territory. And this year, if we choose to, we have a real chance. The city council elections are Tuesday, Nov. 6, just two months away. Not since 2002 has a student run for the council during a general election, and not since student Nick AragÃn was blackballed by former mayor Anna Owens during the special election has a student run. With housing at crisis levels and some of the largest developments in city history in the planning stages, the stakes have never been higher. We have the chance to set precedent in a time when the city needs to – and will – undergo long-term change.
The Student Government Association has already shown its heart is in the right place by placing voter registration cards in everyone’s dorms this week. But cards can be – and were – lost or tossed. Consistent, aggressive encouragement by the SGA and MaryPIRG should commence now – Facebook groups and events, classroom visits, posters and door-to-doors – to drive registration numbers up and show the city we won’t be ignored – even if we lose. And, perhaps most important, students with an interest in holding office should seize the opportunity to claim what we couldn’t last December, and rally student support with an angry, vocal pulpit instead of befriending hostile residents. Because we are this city, and after being tossed around for 150 years, we’ve got a new motto: Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice? Well, it’s just not going to happen.
^
