With the April 1 election approaching, District 5 candidates Jason Stephany and Robbie Webber are vying for the Madison City Council seat, a district known for diverse constituency and lack of defining issues.
The district, which includes Eagle Heights, the Regent neighborhood and part of the UW-Madison campus, is composed of students and community members.
Stephany, who is a UW-Madison sophomore, said students do not have a true voice in local government, even though \we make up almost a quarter of the city's population. The number one thing I'm going to do when elected is bring a student voice to the council,"" Stephany said.
Webber said she believed all issues facing the city government are important to students.
""Having students in the district obviously gears all the issues towards students,"" she said. ""I think that dividing issues into student issues and other issues is a false dichotomy because students care about things more than you give them credit for,"" she said.
Although Stephany and Webber emphasize making housing affordable for students, they said they place priority on different issues for the district.
Stephany said balancing the city budget is a high priority because it ""is going to affect everybody no matter who you are.""
""I want to ensure that we're providing quality city services at an affordable price to people."" Stephany said. ""We should work on developing a living wage in this city.""
Webber said she believes transportation and safety are among the most important issues for District 5. ""When I talk to people in the residential areas, they want to make sure that the streets are safe,"" she said.
District 5 relies heavily on transportation alternatives, such as busing, biking, walking and mopeds, Webber said. Because of this reliance, Webber said she supports implementing a rail system in Madison.
""We have a rail corridor; it would go right through the district. It would be a huge advantage to people who live around the campus and people who work and study on campus,"" she said.
