By Jason Freund 14

The first Carbondale City Council meeting on the SIUC campus brought more than 100 people to the Student Center Auditorium Tuesday night..

City Councilwoman Maggie Flanagan said she was anticipating a good turnout.

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I was hopeful. It got good press and good coverage, Flanagan said. That was a good stimulant.

Councilman Larry Briggs said the turnout was not as large as he thought it would be.

It was less than I expected, and the weather didn’t help, he said. There’re a lot of students, though.

Flanagan said the good turnout may result in more council meetings on campus.

If there’s a real big response, I’d like to do it more often, she said.

Tuesday’s on-campus meeting was part of Briggs’ and Councilman John Budslick’s successful April campaigns.

Briggs said that in addition to Tuesday’s meeting, there will be one other meeting on campus. The meeting has not yet been scheduled.

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They (the council) may go for three this year, Briggs, an associate professor in art and design, said. They’ve tried to move it around before, but it didn’t work because of amplification and other things.

He said bringing the meeting to campus was a positive move by the City Council.

It kind of says we’re not afraid to come out here, and students showing up shows that they’re not afraid to deal with us, Briggs said.

Dave Vingren, Undergraduate Student Government president, said the good turnout showed the City Council that there is student interest.

This is more (people) than at any other City Council meeting, Vingren said. This is like 20 times the amount we get at our debates in the spring.

Brent Madsen, a sophomore in political science from Inverness, said he was at the meeting because a class he is taking required him to attend.

He said although he was at the meeting for class, having the meeting on campus benefits the students.

It helps them understand what goes on at a City Council meeting and see how much people can participate, Madsen said.

He said also that having the meeting on campus shows the city cares about SIUC students.

It shows that they’re really interested in getting the students involved, Madsen said.

Derek DeJanett, a junior in hotel restaurant administration from Geff, said he just stopped by to see what was going on.

I was just curious, he said.

He said having the meeting on campus increased its exposure to the students.

About 30 students left the meeting early when the City Council took a break at about 8:30 p.m.

DeJanett, who left the meeting early, said although the meetings might be of interest to some, it did not really mean much to him.

While I was in there, they didn’t go over anything of particular interest to me, DeJanett said.

During the meeting, the council voted to reopen the bidding for the city towing contract. There was only one bidder, and problems developed when a second firm turned in a bid at the last minute.