The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Student announces intent to run for City Council

SIUC sophomore TyJuan Cratic announced his intent to run for a spot on the Carbondale City Council late Tuesday afternoon.

There are three empty seats waiting to be filled for the April 5 election. Current Councilman Chris Wissman and councilwoman Corene McDaniel both announced their intentions to run again, but Cratic said he was unaware of any other area residents intending to run for the open offices.

Cratic met with The Daily Egyptian editorial board to make the official announcement of his candidacy and will now file papers with the City Clerk. The due date for anyone planning to run for City Council is Dec. 13.

Though he admitted he was unaware of any successful bids by students for a spot on the council, he said he was not worried because any campaign where an individual "offers themselves and their ideas" would be considered successful.

"It is something to overcome because obviously people see students as people who are here for their education, and they are," Cratic said. "They see them as people who don't take the community seriously, but I'm not one of those people."

Current City Council member Sheila Simon said she believed Cratic was a good candidate for the council, and encouraged him to run after meeting him early in Barack Obama's 2004 senate campaign when he made a good impression on her.

"I've gotten a chance to meet him," she said. "He seems to be a good leader, willing to speak out. Probably his disadvantage is that he has not been in the community as long as a lot of other folks, but then again he has a lot more energy."

Cratic said he will focus on garnering votes from the community as well as the student body, though his plan for getting out the vote includes laying low, writing position papers, and beginning the biggest part of his campaign after SIUC's winter break.

Simon said this is a typical strategy when running for the council, and early campaign activities are often low profile.

Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole said a student running for City Council is not a unique situation and in his 15 years of experience Cole has seen a student run in almost every election cycle.

He said the council already has a positive relationship with students, and he himself has devoted much of his term as mayor to foster that relationship.

"I think we have a good relationship now," he said. "I know that I take special efforts to be on campus and be around students and with them."

Cole said there would be one clear vacancy left by councilwoman Maggie Flanagan, who does not plan to return for another four-year term. He said he expected about eight to 10 candidates to run, calling the range a "normal number."

Cratic said he will focus on economic issues and improve Carbondale's economy, whether it be by putting the Carbondale Park District under city control, the Carbondale Public Library under city control or reinstating the property tax to garner greater revenue.

He said he would need more information to make a decision on any of these issues.

Cratic is a senator for the Undergraduate Student Government, a member of the Student Health Advisory Board, a member of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transsexual Provost Committee and subcommittee, Democratic Committeeman for Brush Towers and former president of the College Democrats.

He said he is willing but not eager to release any of these offices if he cannot give "100 percent" to the work needed.

"We have one [council member] who I believe is a hairdresser; one who is a law school professor," he said. "I've talked to these people and it is not a great, stressful time commitment, but I will always make myself available to anyone."

Though Cratic is active within the Democratic Party, Simon said his affiliation would not matter in the nonpartisan City Council.

"A lot of the city issues are very local, and when we do split on issues it usually isn't against party lines," she said.

Cole said it is still too early to tell the demographics of who will be running in the election.

"I think we have a diverse council now," he said. "And I think the best thing for the council is to have people who understand the issues of a municipal government, whether that be a student or not."

 

 

[Macro error: Can't include because the file is larger than 32767 characters.]

Today's News | Sports | Voices - Editorial | Letters
Newsbriefs | pulse - Arts & Entertainment | Calendar | Photo Staff
Apts & Rentals | Photo Personals | Live DE NewsCam | Classified Ads