Hello new mayor-elect and welcome to the office,
We're the students of Ball State University. We just wanted to introduce ourselves as early as possible so you would be familiar with us, the students attending the university, which is one of the biggest employers in Muncie. While we might only be here during our college years, please give us consideration during your term. Who knows? We might decide to stay if Muncie and Ball State relations continue to improve and students are more included in the community.
Mayor Dan Canan was interested in improving how the university and city interact. Continue efforts like the Mayor's Commission, in which students work with city officials, and add your own. Residents and students need to work together, and that will start with you and your goals.
Encourage business owners outside of entertainment and dining to become involved with the university and students. Muncie can no longer rely on industry to support the city, and professional businesses will have to become more important. The resources to start and build those businesses is right here, two miles from downtown - college-educated people. Encourage graduates to stay here after they complete their studies. We need jobs, and you need degree-holding professionals. It's a symbiotic relationship that should be natural. However, it isn't happening naturally, so you, as the new mayor, need to make it happen.
Beyond the larger, more pressing issues, there's a long list of projects you and the city should undertake to make Muncie a place people enjoy living in. Ball State students shouldn't want to come here despite of Muncie, but because of it.
Fix the parking ticket system - it's an inconsistent guessing game to figure out if we'll be fined. Figure out a better snow removal system; we're tired of being trapped in our homes because the winter roads are too dangerous to drive on. Repair potholes with something that lasts more than a few weeks or months. Make the Muncie and Ball State police work together more effectively in near-campus neighborhoods.
As you prepare to take office, keep in mind a portion of the community that's very important to Muncie's future - the students.
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