The "in small elections, every vote counts" encouragement for college student participation in Claremont’s City Council elections sounds somewhat redundant after the "in presidential elections, every vote counts" lesson we’ve all just been taught. That does not make the council elections any less important, or less pertinent to our lives. Two of the five seats in the City Council are up for grabs, with only one incumbent running for reelection. The jurisdiction of the City Council members runs far beyond their actual positions. From the pool of, well, themselves, they appoint Claremont’s mayor. This should worry you: one of the candidates for City Council, Richard Bunck, has admittedly been tied in the past to neo-Nazism. Claremont can be a scary, scary place. Council members are also in charge of appointments to many of Claremont’s commissions, including the Architecture Commission, responsible for reviewing all proposed Claremont developments (such as the Keck Graduate Institute’s proposal for the Bernard Field Station), and the Police Commission. The City Council is also responsible for the appointment of a City Manager.

These positions are crucially important. The current City Manager, Glenn Southard, is the person who, in one of his many egregious and hostile actions, finalized the appalling Claremont decision a year ago to give officers Hany Hanna and Kent Jacks–the policemen who shot and killed Irvin Landrum–a joint City Employee of the Year award. He also stands greatly opposed to the conservation of the Bernard Field Station. However, his appointment could be terminated with this new election of council members.

Even students who are not actively interested in politics should be concerned about these City Council elections, because of the direct effect that the City Council has on the social lives of the colleges. Digital Underground, two Harwood Halloweens ago, had the plug pulled on their sound system mid-song long before midnight. The proposed extension of Claremont’s Village, "Village West," could feasibly contain as few college-friendly venues and shops as the current Village does. The City Council is also a big reason why we cannot drink a beer with our Sagehen Café meals: they have prevented the Sagehen Café from obtaining an alcohol license. As usual, the desires of young voters are being ignored because so few young voters cast ballots.

As Daniel Myers’ news story outlines, only around 6,000 people voted in the last City Council election. If we all just take the small amount of time to register by February 19, we can easily make the voices of the Claremont Colleges heard. Luckily, many campus organizations are bringing the candidates to campus to talk to students, making informed voting simple in this election with little media attention. Students at the Claremont Colleges need to register to vote in Claremont, and then cast their ballots in order to effect much-needed change in Claremont.

Sincerely,
Nora Lawrence

Editor-in-Chief