[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]After being sworn in Tuesday afternoon, the newly elected City Council went straight to business, with many choosing to immediately take a political stand.

While taking their oaths of office, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and 10 out of 20 city alders chose to publicly protest November's marriage amendment.

Once in session, the City Council delayed a vote that would establish new regulations on used-textbook sales in Madison to an upcoming meeting.

If passed, the proposed ordinance would require students to show identification when selling back their textbooks and would require stores to write down students' names and what textbooks they sold back.

The proposal, which was introduced last session by former Common Council President Austin King, was debated by members of the freshly elected City Council, which officially gathered for the first time last night.

The proposed ordinance came after a series of textbook thefts by drug addicts who sold them to Underground Textbook Exchange and University Bookstore for quick cash.

Newly elected Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, who is also a University of Wisconsin sophomore, spoke in favor of the ordinance Tuesday night. He said he talked to members of his classes, and in a 25-person class, three students had experiences with book theft.

"They said that it wasn't only when it came to money why this was important to them. If you lose a book, your grades go down, in particular, with finals coming up," Judge said.

However, representatives from A Room of One's Own and Underground Textbook Exchange were present to speak in opposition to the proposal. They said the ordinance would increase their paperwork since they would have to record every transaction regarding the return of a used textbook.

Sandy Torkelson, of A Room of One's Own, also expressed concern about what would be done with these sales records.

"I don't think that we want the police department holding onto the records of the books that people have read in this city. It's a violation of our civil liberties, and I cannot believe that we would even think about it," Torkelson said.

Troy Gerkey, co-owner of Underground Textbook Exchange, said the ordinance might hurt his business, which depends on the sale of used textbooks. Many students do not carry driver's licenses with them, and if he is required to ask customers for proof of identification when they attempt to resell textbooks, some students may leave.

Gerkey also said he does not think this ordinance is necessary, as some of the people who were responsible for last year's textbook thefts were arrested.

"I thought we had sort of solved this problem of these individuals," Gerkey said, adding his store helped the UW Police Department identify the textbook thieves.

However, newly elected City Council President Mike Verveer, District 4, who also serves as Assistant District Attorney for Dane County, said this textbook theft incident was not isolated.

"It is not just one ring of drug addicts that are stealing and reselling used textbooks, and now the problem's gone away — absolutely not," Verveer said. "These cases occur all the time, and it's not a problem that has only come up recently."

Besides the textbook proposal, the City Council also discussed and unanimously approved a resolution to honor the visit of the Dalai Lama, who will be in Madison from May 2-4. The resolution also calls for the Tibetan flag to be placed in City Hall.