UW-Madison student and Dane County Board of Supervisors candidate John Magnino announced plans to engage more students in county government Sunday.
Magnino announced his candidacy in January, emphasizing a need to increase student participation in local government.
“I will fight from day one to make sure that students have the voice that they deserve on this board that has been notably lacking,” Magnino said.
Magnino said two main points in his plan are the creation of two committees designed to engage students in local government.
The Campus City-County Committee is a public forum for student groups like the Associated Students of Madison to collaborate with city and county leaders, making “local government more transparent and accessible,” Magnino said.
Magnino’s initiative also would implement the Student-County Liaison, which would assist students in joining committees that allow for citizen input.
“[The committees] would give students a really good opportunity to be involved in government and should advance the aims and goals of the Dane County Board as a whole,” Magnino said.
UW-Madison student Leland Pan, candidate for the Dane County Board of Supervisors, said although he is glad Magnino sees the lack of student involvement, he does not agree with Magnino’s method.
“I think that the more important thing to do in terms of getting students engaged is organizing,” Pan said. “I think that what he overlooks is that there’s already a lot of structure in place in terms of student groups engaging students.”
