"I'm happy to see that students finally have a voice," Goldman said.
"I will be a strong voice for the students."
University students Chris Parsons, Craig Laupheimer and Adam Walsh
were also elected to the board. Walsh ran for Ward 1 City Council last
year and said he is interested in improving the relationship between
the University and the city.
Steve Jarvis was the only board member re-elected, with Ward 3 City
Councilor David Kelly falling just a few votes shy of victory.
Rixmann commended the newly elected board members but said it was too
bad Kelly's "wealth of knowledge" was not recognized by the voting body.
University students Kellyn Gross and Ayal Alves were elected vice
chairpersons of the association. Gross said she is hoping to use her
position to, among other things, help maintain a quality of housing that
is livable but still affordable for students.
Gross, Parsons and Alves all said they have been active in the student
co-operative housing community.
Discussions prior to the board nominations and elections proved
divisive as students questioned the reasoning behind the city's plan to
improve the neighborhood alleys and called for more input from residents
before proceeding with the project.
City civil engineer Seward Meintsma presented meeting attendees with
photographs of trees that would be removed in the alley improvement
project and said the removals were unavoidable if the project was to
proceed.
Kelly said the City Council voted on the alley improvement project last
spring after a public hearing was held to give residents a forum to
discuss the pros and cons of the project, meaning the neighborhood is now
"advisory rather than in charge."
Also discussed at the meeting was the increase in neighborhood crime.
"When you're asleep, there's a whole other crowd that comes out,"
Rixmann said.
