Student Council President Noah Sullivan introduced a bill Tuesday night to establish a student liaison to Charlottesville City Council.
Under the proposal, the student liaison would join Student Council's Chief of Staff, Chief Technology Advisor, Director of University Relations and the Chief Financial Officer in the Presidential Cabinet.
"I think the student liaison could make a big impact," Sullivan said. "We decided we wanted to go ahead and integrate this position into our organization."
According to Sullivan, the responsibilities of the liaison would include monitoring City Council agendas, setting up meetings with various Charlottesville officials, acting as a student advocate and reporting pertinent City issues to Student Council.
Unlike proposals in the past, the current resolution does not request that there be a sitting, non-voting student member of Charlottesville's Council.
College Rep. Sam White said a City Council member told students there would have been major complications having a sitting member of City Council from Student Council, but that having an open dialogue would be beneficial.
Charlottesville Vice Mayor Kevin Lynch agreed.
"If the function of the liaison is to be present at [City] Council meetings and alert Student Council of pertinent issues, that could be helpful," Lynch said. "Student Council is one of the constituents that we have. There are a lot of ways that we can communicate with our constituents."
Lynch also said that many constituents, such as neighborhood associations, got involved by setting up meetings with City officials. He added that students could get their voices heard by voting in larger numbers.
Several members of Student Council's representative body expressed concern about the way the student liaison would be chosen under the provisions of the proposed resolution.
"I think it is a great idea to have this liaison, but I do not know about the position being appointed by the president," College Rep. Tom Gibson said. "I think candidates should be voted on by the whole representative body."
Sullivan said choosing the liaison through presidential appointment was appropriate.
"The liaison would not be creating new policies but would be representing student voice to another entity," Sullivan said. "An appointment holds the position accountable because everything that is advocated for is on behalf of the Student Council president or the representative body. It has the legitimacy of any other appointed position"
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