OPINION: Local candidates owe students more

Students could be a major voting bloc in Latah County. The way candidates engage with the student body isn’t making that happen. 

Sandra Kelly asserts that a lack of trust for students and our opinions represents a “source of incompetence in knowing what our students offer.” Kelly was elected to the Moscow City Council in 2019, and has served as the council’s chair since January of this year.  

Kelly was recently hired by the University of Idaho in the Department of Student Involvement.

As a candidate and a council member, Kelly has worked to represent students by avoiding any division between campus and Moscow. 

She hopes that students find a way to get involved with their communities in Moscow and beyond. At the moment, that’s easier said than done. 

It’s no wonder that the 18-24 year old age demographic has the lowest voter turnout rate in Idaho and nationwide. This age group is largely students in Latah County. In recent years, UI students have had several negative interactions with their elected officials. 

In 2018, District 5 Senator Dan Foreman shouted at a group of UI students in the statehouse. The students were members of Generation Action visiting legislators for Planned Parenthood Lobby Day. The group was advocating for a bill that would require health insurance to cover a year’s worth of birth control to improve contraceptive access. 

Senator Foreman canceled the meeting with the student group. When they ran into him later, Foreman yelled and swore at the students, referencing his own views on abortion even though the group was not advocating for abortion policies. 

Representative Brandon Mitchell is currently running for his second term in the state legislature. In 2021, Mitchell sponsored multiple bills which would exclude student IDs from acceptable voter identification laws, the most updated bill being House Bill 344. District 5 Representatives Mitchell and Troy both voted in favor of the bill. 

Many bills in the last two legislative sessions including H0344 claim the purpose of improving election integrity. Secretary of State Lawrence Denney confirmed that election fraud concerns are baseless.  

Excluding student IDs specifically seems to target students’ access to the polls rather than addressing election integrity concerns. 

A forum for Moscow mayoral candidates in 2021 sparked discussion about students’ role in the city. Candidate Jim Gray claimed UI was more social than academic and made students feel entitled. Art Bettge, who won the race with a wide margin, described students as “importers of cash.” 

These sentiments portray students as an economic asset to Moscow rather than a valuable part of the community. UI is indisputably a major player in Moscow’s economy, but students are not only patrons for local businesses. 

Sandra Kelly says students are an integral part of Moscow, a “special and really unique blip” in the culture of our town. She describes UI as its own city of students, but recognizes the importance of student opinions in Moscow’s governance. 

Kelly recommends students build connections with their elected officials. She says commissions are a great place to get started in city involvement and encourages reaching out to let our representatives know that we care. 

Students are affected by state and city-level policies. We should have a fair chance to be represented and heard by our elected officials. 

Inclusion of students in campaign events and platforms is a two-way street. As part of their civic duty, students should reach out to candidates and city leaders to have conversations and share concerns. As part of their responsibility to their constituents, candidates and local parties should connect with students to understand our community’s needs. 

“It’s an absolute honor to serve Moscow. And its students,” Kelly said on her term thus far.  

Leadership like Moscow City Council’s is vital in making students feel heard. Improving the town-gown relationship can only expand students’ civic engagement beyond campus. 

Students are an economic force in Latah County. But we have more to offer than our buying power. 

If the community leadership outside UI wants to truly represent all their constituents, it’s going to take some work. That starts with listening to students’ opinions and experiences, and recognizing the value we bring to Moscow that can’t be measured in dollars. 

Edited for added context of Kelly’s university involvement.

Katie Hettinga can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @katie_hettinga