The Student Association will play a significant role in deciding whether Starkville changes to a “strong mayor/council” form of government or keeps its mayor/board of aldermen system.
About 200 members of the SA will collect the majority of signatures needed to force a public vote on the issue, SA chairman of governmental affairs Simon Bailey said.
The project marks the continued interaction of the Student Association with Starkville government.
Bailey said the petition drive, which will span two days, will give students more of a voice in Starkville’s governmental affairs.
But the Student Association is getting more out of the effort than the satisfaction of spurring political interest among students.
David Thornell, the CEO of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, the group that is spearheading the effort to change the current system of government, said that the organization agreed to help the Student Association financially with some projects in the near future in exchange for their support in the petition drive.
“I expect that they will receive a payment for this but it won’t be tied to this petition drive,” Thornell said.
Bailey said he didn’t think a specific figure had been set, but that the Partnership would be helping out with future events like Bulldog Bash.
Bailey did say that the amount of support the Partnership pledged to the Student Association is not equivalent to the amount of work that will go into the petition drive. “It’s not even close,” he said.
Continual growth in Starkville calls for a re-evaluation of the city’s needs, Bailey said.
“Any time a town goes through the changes that Starkville has undergone, it deserves the chance to step back and reassess what role city government should take,” Bailey said.
Mayor pro tempore Frank Davis said the public vote would be valuable to the public whether Starkville’s form of government changed or not. “I’m more for the opportunity and the education that’s going to occur,” he said.
SA members will go door-to-door Tuesday and Wednesday collecting signatures. Without 3,100 signatures on a petition requesting a public vote on the issue, Starkville will continue to function as a mayor/board of aldermen system.
Bailey said they expect to get about 3,000 signatures.
SA president Telle said the Student Association is not endorsing the mayor/board of aldermen form of government or the mayor/council form.
The mayor/council form, or “strong mayor” form, as it is often called, gives more direct authority to the mayor than he or she has with the mayor/board of aldermen form. The current system gives aldermen more input into city business.
Telle said that a mayor/council form could help give a city with as diverse a constituency as Starkville a clearer direction. Telle also said that cities like Madison in central Mississippi have been immensely successful with the mayor/board of aldermen system.
He said he heard about the Partnership’s desire for a change in city government over the summer. After discussing the issue with fellow SA members, he asked the Partnership if the Student Association could help, he said.
Bailey said the Student Association wants more than just signatures on a petition. They will pass out information and explain the two systems to potential signers before asking them to “take a stand for democracy.”
“We don’t want anyone misinformed,” Bailey said. “We know it’s a complicated issue and all we can do is give them the information to make an informed decision.”
Telle said that it was hard to say which form of government would benefit students most. There is a much more important issue, he said.
“The thing that’s going to give students power in the city of Starkville is not who’s in office or what form of government we have,” Telle said. “It’s how many students are registered to vote.”