2008 Woodie Awards
SCSU student enters city council race
Becky Kuschel
Issue date: 9/24/07 Section: News
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Four years ago, Garner Moffat, an SCSU student, ran for St. Cloud City Council and lost, but this fall, he is running again with more experience and community involvement.
"I was 21-years-old when I ran last time," Moffat said. "So, it was a challenge to be able to show that as a young person I was more qualified than the incumbent who'd already been in the office for four years."
Moffat will graduate from SCSU in the spring with a bachelors degree in community development.
While growing up in St. Cloud, Moffat got frustrated watching the evening news.
"It seemed like things didn't make any sense to me, and people were making really bad decisions," he said.
He began following political issues closely. Knowing he couldn't do anything on the federal level, Moffat focused on state and local issues.
At the age of 18, he began attending city council meetings on a weekly bases.
"I saw the same problems at the local level, at least, to a lesser degree," Moffat said. "I realized that there was an opportunity for me to actually get involved and be able to help things out and make a change on the local level."
Moffat originally attended St. Cloud Technical College for computer networking.
He credits his degree change and transfer to SCSU to faculty member Aspasia Rigopoulou-Melcher, associate professor of community studies at SCSU.
Moffat had been attending all of the City Comprehensive Plan meetings when Rigopoulou-Melcher saw his ideas and took an interest in him.
"I was at one of the meetings and had spoken up about separating out the economic differences between downtown and the east side, which was kind of a controversial topic," Moffat said. "I had drawn out maps showing some of the differences and how traffic could be rerouted through the area to benefit the commercial districts and the overall transportation systems in the city. I was talking to an organizer, when she came over to talk to me. Turned out she was a professor here in the community development department."
"I was 21-years-old when I ran last time," Moffat said. "So, it was a challenge to be able to show that as a young person I was more qualified than the incumbent who'd already been in the office for four years."
Moffat will graduate from SCSU in the spring with a bachelors degree in community development.
While growing up in St. Cloud, Moffat got frustrated watching the evening news.
"It seemed like things didn't make any sense to me, and people were making really bad decisions," he said.
He began following political issues closely. Knowing he couldn't do anything on the federal level, Moffat focused on state and local issues.
At the age of 18, he began attending city council meetings on a weekly bases.
"I saw the same problems at the local level, at least, to a lesser degree," Moffat said. "I realized that there was an opportunity for me to actually get involved and be able to help things out and make a change on the local level."
Moffat originally attended St. Cloud Technical College for computer networking.
He credits his degree change and transfer to SCSU to faculty member Aspasia Rigopoulou-Melcher, associate professor of community studies at SCSU.
Moffat had been attending all of the City Comprehensive Plan meetings when Rigopoulou-Melcher saw his ideas and took an interest in him.
"I was at one of the meetings and had spoken up about separating out the economic differences between downtown and the east side, which was kind of a controversial topic," Moffat said. "I had drawn out maps showing some of the differences and how traffic could be rerouted through the area to benefit the commercial districts and the overall transportation systems in the city. I was talking to an organizer, when she came over to talk to me. Turned out she was a professor here in the community development department."