By JILL PERRY
BYU student Peter Miller has decided to run for the northeast district seat on the Provo City Council.
“I think I have an exceptional chance to win — if the students will vote,” Miller said. “If I get 2,000 votes from the students, I can win.”
Miller, 24, from Dos Paulos, Calif. is a junior, majoring in English. He is currently living in Charlotte, N.C., where he is working for the summer.
The northeast seat is held by Jane Carlile, who hasn’t made a decision whether she is running again or not.
The 30,000-student population of the university can be represented on the council if he were to win, Miller said.
He said the choice of the northeast district was the most realistic possibility for him.
“I don’t think I can organize and get the $5,000 to $6,000 needed to run for the city-wide position,” Miller said.
The northeast district includes a minority of students, but also a lot of families and non-BYU students. Only people within that district are able to vote.
“I will represent my constituency in a non-partisan way, not favoring the students,” Miller said. “I will, however, give the students the representation that they deserve that I don’t think has happened yet.”
Miller wants the students to realize the impact that the council has in their lives.
“Students think that because they are attending BYU, they are in their own little world not affected by the community,” Miller said.
The fact is they are a major part of the community, being 1/3 of the population of Provo, and influence it for the better, Miller said.
“Students don’t realize how many city issues affect their lives, we have a responsibility and civic duty to get involved in making the community we live in better,” Miller said.
Many issues that the council deals with relate to the university; parking off-campus, utility bills, housing, zoning and rent are common topics for the council.
“I have found in my experience with student government that you’re limited in affecting those types of issues, but as a council member you are dealing with those issues on a daily basis,” Miller said.
Miller doesn’t feel intimidated by the responsibility and dedication required of acquiring a council seat. He feels that it will be a very healthy environment for him to work in.
The requirements needed to run for a council seat are being a resident of Provo for at least 12 months, over 18, and living in the district you are running for.
Miller was first introduced to the council scene when he was functioning as vice-president of Student Advisory Council. He helped to get a representative appointed from BYU to attend the council meetings and address the student’s issues and concerns.
“I found that students would have issues related to the university, but the administration didn’t deal with them — they were city issues,” Miller said.
Miller felt like the issues were split between the administration and city, and he wanted to start dealing more with the city.
A hot-line was also created for students to call if they had any questions and concerns they wanted to be brought to the attention of the council.
Deciding to take these ideas one step further, Miller filed to run for the council. He said he wants to be more influential in the decisions being made.
Miller’s campaign manager, Adam Clark, is working on targeting the community and neighborhoods during the summer, but both Miller and Clark plan to start campaigning to the students at the beginning of Fall Semester.
Miller said if there are any students who are dissatisfied or want to see change, they need to get involved, register and vote in the election.
