After noticing what he calls a lack of student impact on local government, an Illinois State University student announced his candidacy for Normal Town Council.
Alex Campbell is a junior marketing major. He said the Town of Normal has historically missed a student perspective and voice on the council.
Campbell said his input would provide a voice for university student residents.
“What I want to do is create the opportunity for students to be able to stay here longer,” Campbell said. “I think a lot of the time it seems like we come here for our four years and leave. I want to create a community where we will be able to expand upon those four years and get students involved in staying here hopefully after graduation.”
If elected, Campbell said he first wants to draw attention to local real estate companies that take advantage of student leasees.
“I think some of their practices can be somewhat predatory towards the students here on campus,” he said. “And I want to make sure we’re fighting to make sure that students have an affordable option and we’re not seeing things like price fixing going on, and that overall it’s an inviting community where students aren’t being taken advantage of, but actually finding places that they can afford to live as well as enjoy to live at.”
Campbell said although he has only lived in Normal for a few years, he is grateful for the community for providing him the platform with which to build his life on.
Campbell will formerly announce his candidacy on ISU's campus Monday.
He is running against seven other candidates in the April election.
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