There’s always the chance that Tuesday’s forum between Binghamton University students, officials and City of Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan could prove to be a fruitless discussion.
The forum, which is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the University Union West Lounge, intends to bridge the ubiquitous disconnect between BU students and the Binghamton community at large, with a focus on livability in the City.
The event is somewhat unprecedented; town hall meetings at Binghamton are generally organized by the Student Association and conducted between students and the administration, generally producing more rhetoric than solutions. City officials and the mayor in particular are rarely present to listen to students’ concerns.
This go-around, with a little help from current BU student Joe Conforti — the event’s organizer who is interning at the mayor’s office — the City of Binghamton is seemingly reaching out to the students.
Except we’ve been here before. In spring of 1998, a similar town hall meeting was held, with then-Mayor Richard Bucci in attendance. The issues then were the perceived insensitivity of City police and trash pickup.
The issues now are the eviction of students in accordance with the R-1, R-2 and R-3 zoning laws, which City Councilwoman Teri Rennia recently said will not be changed in the foreseeable future, and the planning of new private student housing communities, which would potentially be built by developers with questionable pasts.
The gripes change, but a decade later, town-gown relations sadly remain the same — regardless of who comes to talk.
Then there’s also always the chance that the administration and the City are more concerned about keeping the students happy not out of genuine concern, but concern for their own interests — namely economic stimulation.
Said Dave Husch, director of Off Campus College and one of the forum’s planned speakers: “In terms of business in the area, [the forum] would be perfect for our students to learn more about the City, and to help the economy by staying in our area.”
If the forum degenerates into a pitch for how great Binghamton is, and how much students owe to the area and how there’s no place better to live after graduation, then those running it weren’t intending for us to listen.
But there’s also the very real chance that the forum is being approached with the best of intentions, that positive change could actually be affected out of Tuesday’s dialogue and that Ryan, et al., listen and act upon the legitimate concerns of the community.
Whatever the outcome, there’s one thing in the students’ control: the effort they put forth. If students attend the forum — a chance, finally, to communicate with those in control — and take full advantage of the opportunity, the next move would lie with the powers that be.