The narrow defeat of Eugene Kang in the Ann Arbor City Council Democratic primary last Tuesday is disheartening for students who hoped to finally have a representative in city government. But the result was far from decisive — Kang raised nearly five times more money and came within just 95 votes of toppling the Council-backed Stephen Rapundalo. It is clear that had this election been held a month later, after students returned to campus, Kang would have won handily. The small margin of his loss shows that having a student City Council member is indeed attainable and that Ann Arbor residents, like students, are looking for change.

Although Kang’s defeat is a disappointment, student leaders and activists should not be discouraged. Rather, they should use his campaign and the close result as a model to be replicated and improved upon; they should be encouraged that, with no support from the party establishment and in a ward whose students are mostly dorm residents and nearly all out of town for the summer, a student candidate came within 10 percentage points of victory.

It has become increasingly apparent that City Council, as presently structured, is not an ally to students. Last summer, the council attempted to ban couches from porches before students could return and fight against it. Though that measure failed, the same dirty tactic was utilized again this year in passing the anti-student Oxbridge and North Burns Park parking permit ordinance. When a student-backed amendment was proposed in council last Monday by Kim Groome (D–1st Ward) to allot more spaces to fraternities hurt by this measure, it was not even seconded and never saw a vote. If City Council cared for the concerns of the 37,500 students who inhabit Ann Arbor for eight months each year, it would at least give them the courtesy of voting down, rather than simply plugging its ears and ignoring their requests.

When students agitate for representation on City Council, their concerns are often dismissed because they are seen as mere “transients” — visitors to the city rather than residents. But as Kang pointed out, although individual students will come and go, student issues remain constant. Students often feel apathetic or that their voices are ignored, but it is important for them to realize that Ann Arbor is their city as much as anyone else’s.

The election results suggest that disconnect between City Council and its constituents is not felt only by students. Despite his lack of party support and almost non-existent fundraising, Eric Lipson lost to incumbent Marcia Higgins (D–4th Ward) by an even narrower margin than Kang in the Fourth Ward primary. These close elections suggest that there are many Democrats in Ann Arbor who don’t identify with the Democratic establishment in the city. The local Democratic Party has recently supported former Republicans like Higgins and Rapundalo over more progressive candidates. Liberal residents who are disillusioned with the centrist direction the party is taking may have provided much of the support for Kang and Lipson, and they may share many of the same goals as students who seek to change the way City Council is run.

Kang demonstrated that, even with all the institutional barriers in the city government, it is not outside the realm of possibility for a student to win a summer primary; now, the conversation among students interested in changing city government should shift to developing a strategy to make it happen in the future. A good place to start would be establishing a strong network of student neighborhood groups, which could register more students to vote on campus, inform them about the Council members in their own wards and educate them about the importance of voting absentee for summer primaries. In addition, voter registration drives like Voice Your Vote should be strengthened, with a renewed focus on encouraging students to register to vote in Ann Arbor rather than in their hometowns.