WMU Student Hopes to Invoke the Student Body’s Voice as a City Commissioner

By Jason Koole
Western Herald

A 20 year-old Western Michigan University junior is running for city commission Nov. 3 because a large portion of the community is under-represented.

Andrew Lennox, a resident of the Fraternity Village area and a global studies major, said what made him ultimately decide to run was an experience with a Public Safety Officer after he had received a ticket for playing music too loud while hosting a party. The officer had told him to change the laws if he didn’t like them, and that is what Lennox is trying to do. Lennox believes that the time and energy that is going towards these small infractions could be better directed elsewhere.

The Kalamazoo City government is a traditional state government that uses city commissioners. Commissioners are elected representatives for the people, by the people every two years. The two people who receive the highest number of votes are elected mayor and vice-mayor of Kalamazoo. The Commission is the group of elected officials that address the financial stability and community priorities.

“So much time and money wasted on punishing students for minor offenses when I feel there are far worse crimes being committed,” Lennox said.

“What pushed me over the edge was when my roommate, a 19 year old, was walking a girl home one night on a poorly lit street that students frequent every weekend. He passed a group of older non-students, full-grown men, loitering on a corner. The next thing he knows he is facedown on the ground being kicked by the four men while the fifth grabbed his cell phone and any cash in his pocket. Not a police officer in sight. At the same time he was being kicked in the face, DPS was several blocks away handing out noise violations.”

What also helped Lennox to make this decision was when he looked up statistics for how much of the Kalamazoo population is students, and why those students are under-represented.

“Kalamazoo is a city of roughly 77,000 residents. WMU has a student population of around 25,000, K College with 1,300, and KVCC with another 11,000. That is a group of over 35,000 people who aren’t represented on a commission of seven members,” Lennox said.

“35,000 people who have to live in a city they often have little say in. Many students don’t even know what the City Commission is and often unaware of the power a collective student body has. This is our city too and the students deserve say in the commission that controls so many aspects of our lives.”

Lennox said he wants to try and make the city a better place for people to live in. Some of the goals that he specifically represents are crime prevention, community service initiatives, and jobs and economy. Lennox’s goals are detailed on his website www.votelennox.com.

One of the biggest controversies and reasons why Lennox said it is important for him to run for commissioner because of his young age.

“I know my age will have an effect on people’s opinion of me as a candidate and I fully embrace it,” Lennox said.

“My goal is to appeal to the students of Kalamazoo to support one of their own to represent them and have their voice heard in the leadership of Kalamazoo.”

The biggest challenge of Lennox’s election is that he is a write-in candidate, which means that he will not be listed on the ballet.

“During the petition process I turned in around seventy signatures for the minimum requirement of fifty to get on the ballot. Of the signatures over twenty were in fact not registered voters in the city Kalamazoo,” said Lennox.

“As a result my name will not be on the ballot and that is why I am relying on the people of Kalamazoo and my classmates to remember the name Andrew Lennox and write it in on their ballot.”

While Andrew Lennox’s name may not be on the ballet, he said he still hopes to win and have the opportunity to represent the student voice downtown.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=10458

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Oct 19 2009. Filed under Breaking, Local, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com