First Student in Over Two Decades Runs for Berkeley City Council

UC Berkeley senior Jason Overman kicked off his campaign Saturday to become the first student City Council member elected since 1984, but he will face some unique obstacles as a student candidate.

Overman, a current commissioner on the city's Rent Stabilization Board, is the only current UC Berkeley student running for office in the upcoming November city elections, challenging current Councilmember Gordon Wozniak.

Overman said it has been too long since students have been represented at the highest level of city government. The last student to run for council was Andy Katz, now an alumnus, who lost a bid to Wozniak in 2002.

"For four years students have been left out of the voting process. It's been students versus neighbors," Overman said. "We need leadership that can address the concerns of everyone."

Perhaps the biggest challenge students running for city positions face is getting fellow students to be interested in the city government and vote.

But Overman said students have been neglected by the current city government and will vote for change. Students make up approximately a quarter of the city's population, but hold only about 5 percent of city commission seats.

"The way students are being treated by the city will bring them together," he said.

Not all community members are as optimistic as Overman.

"I don't know if anyone can get the student vote out," said Berkeley resident Charlie Betcher, who spoke in Overman's support at the campaign kick-off event Saturday.

Some say students simply are not interested in city politics because they generally live in Berkeley for only a few years.

"(Low voter turnout among students) has been a long-term problem of the community," said Berkeley resident and Overman supporter Peni Hall. "They are not here to care about the neighborhood, they're here to care about their education."

Many UC Berkeley students are not registered to vote in Berkeley, instead choosing to vote absentee in their hometowns.

UC Berkeley junior Michael Xing said he planned on registering to vote in Berkeley for the first time.

"We're all living here for four years; we should get involved in the politics," Xing said.

The student turnout in elections is on average 15 percent lower than the "adult" voter turnout, Wozniak said.

But other factors, including the combined burden of political responsibilities and academic demands, could keep students from participating in local politics.

"It was a challenge to balance the campaign load with the course load," Katz said. Katz took a reduced course load in preparation for his council campaign and said he had to "make up for it later."

Sitting on the City Council is "not a bigger commitment than being editor of the paper or ASUC president," Wozniak said. Wozniak says he spends an average of 40 to 50 hours per week on council business when the council is in session.

Many council members also hold full-time jobs, said City Councilmember Kriss Worthington.

"If people can have a full-time job (while on the council) then they can definitely be full-time students too," Worthington said.

But Overman said he isn't worried about being able to balance school and City Council. If he is elected, Overman said that the council will come first. "I can find time for studying," he said.

A correction to this article can be found here.

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