The Common Council Organizational Committee agreed Tuesday night to add a different kind of member to the Alcohol License Review Committee — a student with the right to vote.
At their Sept. 1 meeting, the committee rejected the proposal, which was advocated by Ald. Bryon Eagon, District 8, because of concerns about the new member solely representing the University of Wisconsin.
Eagon then made changes to the ordinance with the help of City Attorney Michael May and opened the position up to any student enrolled in a college in the city of Madison, including Edgewood College and Madison Area Technical College.
The current ordinance already provides for a student position on the ALRC appointed by UW’s Associated Students of Madison, currently filled by UW junior Mark Woulf; however, this position is a “student technical advisor” with a non-voting status.
Ald. Marsha Rummel, District 6, said she thought the addition of a student voter sends a good institutional message to the student bodies.
“In so many ways, the ALRC is unbalanced and it doesn’t represent all the people that benefit and use its services,” Rummel said.
One main concern brought up by committee members was giving an underage student the opportunity to represent the student body in alcohol-related matters.
“We are assuming that they’re going to be breaking the law,” said Ald. Judy Compton, District 16. “That is the wrong thing for us as lawmakers to do.”
According to Eagon, 18 is the minimum age to be a member of the City Council and he does not think a student’s age should restrict ALRC membership. He added he believes 18- to 20-year-olds can provide the same kind of input and ideas as other members 21 or older and would bring a unique perspective due to their underage status.
Compton said when dealing with a committee that is specifically about alcohol licensing, she has a “very strong belief that the person making that decision should be of legal drinking age.”
Eagon said the addition of this student voting member would be a great step in recognizing the ALRC deals with several issues that students are passionate about. He added it is not only progress in addressing important issues that affect students, but reflects the city of Madison’s value of student participation.
Ald. Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, District 5, said a voting student member of the ALRC will provide great perspective from a large constituency when making policy decisions.
“I’m always amazed by the amount of great input and insight that [the students] have,” Bidar-Sielaff said. “I am looking forward to seeing the change that this could make to the discussions in the ALRC.”
As a city populated with so many college students, many alders agreed students would bring new insight to issues that are often overlooked by city officials.
Ald. Bridget Maniaci, District 2, said there are many policy issues that deserve the input of students under 21.
“I think this committee will be successful if we have that voice from that demographic, and even if they’re not 21, especially if you have someone who’s from the city and knows what’s going on in the nightlife scene,” Maniaci said.
Another change made to the student voting member proposal included limiting the term from 3 years to 2, partly due to concerns about graduating students, students who drop out and other elements that might jeopardize their membership.
City Council President Ald. Tim Bruer, District 14, said he was looking forward to actively demonstrating the value of the voting position.
“I think its time that the student community is clearly recognized,” Bruer said.
Later on Tuesday, City Council referred the proposal to the next ALRC meeting to solicit the committee’s input.
