The face of Tempe's city council could be sporting fewer wrinkles next year.
Kevin Bondelli, a 23-year-old ASU alumnus who received his bachelor's degree in political science in May, announced last Thursday his intention to run for the council in an effort to bring students' concerns to the forefront of the agenda of a city dominated by students.
"We haven't had a candidate that ran that was looking at students because most people give up on them," Bondelli said in an interview Friday.
Bondelli said he's tired of local politicians ignoring student needs and passing ordinances that affect students without getting their input first. Bondelli also said he thinks local politicians intentionally stigmatize students to create election-year drama.
"In order to get elected there has to be some kind of conflict, and I think what people call the "good ol' boys" in Tempe use the conflict with students in order to get people out to vote," Bondelli said. "If you look at [Tempe Mayor] Hugh Hallman's State of the City address from 2003 he refers to students as a plague ... The city tends to blame a lot of the problems it has on students."
Bondelli said his primary campaign issue is getting Tempe officials to recognize students as valid constituents of the community. He thinks local government is to blame for the alienation of students from the city, and said such alienation contributes to urban blight. Students are reluctant to put effort into maintaining their property because they don't feel like part of the city, Bondelli said.
"I think a lot of the problems that we see in Tempe are because students are being told they don't belong here," Bondelli said. "They're told that they're not part of the community, so they don't treat themselves as part of the community. If they felt like they were wanted and they worked together with their neighbors, they'd be more willing to take pride in their property."
Another major issue for Bondelli is rental reform. He said he wants to put an end to what he sees as abuses perpetrated by large rental companies that cater to, and then take advantage of, students who live off-campus. Such abuses include charging students for repairs that should be paid for by the companies themselves, and a lack of accountability for unethical landlords.
"I want to see a stricter code for rental companies saying specifically what's defined as upkeep and what's required that they cannot charge renters for," Bondelli said. "A lot of the issues that are problems with Tempe come down to 'slumlords' that buy up a lot of properties and then don't make standard upkeep. When you see buildings deteriorating, the city council is blaming students, but it's not the students' fault."
Bondelli added that he'd like to see a section of the city of Tempe Web site dedicated to registering violations perpetrated by rental companies.
Bondelli said his youth might be a liability, but thinks a bigger problem could be his opponents portraying him as part of an unsavory demographic.
"The more serious liability is the rhetoric the city council uses about students not really being part of the community," Bondelli said. "It's not so much the age but the fact that I'll be labeled as a member of the 'student problem.'"
Bondelli realizes that he faces an uphill battle, but also thinks that students can be mobilized to vote once they have enough information.
"A lot of people think that they can't register to vote in Tempe if they're from out of state because they'll lose scholarships. A lot of people have thrown that myth out there to prevent students from voting," Bondelli said. "If we inform them of how to vote and then actually give them a reason to vote, I think we can get a pretty high student turnout."
He said he also wants students to believe their vote matters, and that his campaign is not as long a shot as it may seem.
"There actually is a chance that this could work out," Bondelli said. "This could be groundbreaking. This could change the way that politics works in Tempe."
"Most of the issues students are going to face are going to be in Tempe; they're going to directly affect them and it would be a good idea to register to vote here," he added. "It's really important for people to realize that this election matters directly as much as any other election they might vote in."
Politics is not a new arena for Bondelli, who has held a variety of student government positions. He was student body vice president in 2003, and was an active member in numerous campus organizations like the Arizona Young Democrats.
Affiliations with such groups gave Bondelli the chance to have a role in Tempe's politics, but he said he found himself frustrated by the city council's apathy toward student concerns. He addressed the city council regarding Tempe's loud-party ordinance, asking for a compromise with more student input, but was denied. He also lobbied the Arizona state legislature for women's rights.
Winning isn't everything for Bondelli and said he hopes that strong campaign momentum will at least force the council to rethink how it treats the students it serves.
"The point is not so much getting elected to the city council, but getting close enough to make the people in power know that there are going to be enough students voting to where they have to change the way they talk about students and can't use them as a scapegoat anymore," Bondelli said.
"If we win, we'll have a student voice on the city council that will help inform the students of what's going on so we can get student input on these issues."
The Tempe City Council election will be held March 16, 2006. The terms of three current council members - Ben Arredondo, Len Copple and Pam Goronkin - will end in 2006.
Reach the reporter at jason.ludwig@asu.edu.
