Most students who live near campus are represented on the Champaign County Board by Tom Betz. He’s up for re-election and I want to encourage students to vote for him. Tom has worked with students and has distinguished himself as an advocate for students for the last 25 years. He is an attorney in student legal services and lives just east of Lincoln Avenue where many of his neighbors are students.

Recently, Tom Betz proposed the creation of minimum housing standards for all rental properties in the county so that landlords would be required by law to perform repairs and tenants would be able to avail themselves of the state’s right to repair act when landlords neglect repair needs. The proposal won majority support, and this is an idea most of the other members would never have thought to propose. Tom’s experience working with students whose landlords don’t do repairs informed his decision to introduce this proposal.

There are too few elected officials who understand or care about issues affecting students. Tom is one of the few for whom students’ welfare and issues are always a priority. He deserves to be re-elected to the County Board.

Esther Patt

Non-Academic University Staff