Richardson Mayor Amir Omar plans to hold a town hall at UT Dallas with the university's Student Government in mid-November, he told students at a campus forum, The UTD Mercury reported Tuesday.
Omar also said the city would add seats at its yearly State of the City address so more people, students among them, can attend, according to the student newspaper. No date for the town hall was reported.
What students asked about
The forum, a Student Government event called Pizza with Politicians held Oct. 15, put local officials in a room with students who raised housing costs, transportation, jobs and the outlook for international students, the Mercury reported. Anointing Okereke, who chairs the group's legislative affairs committee, organized it and said talking directly with officials could show students why taking part matters.
Council Member Joe Corcoran said two subjects dominate what he hears from UTD students. "Since I've been on council, the two things I've heard: housing and DART, housing and DART, housing and DART," he said.
On housing, Corcoran pointed to CityLine. He said the council approved room for thousands more apartments there last year and expects more detailed development plans to come before it, and he said building them with students in mind "would be a really good move." On transit, he said the city should keep backing a fully funded, efficient DART, including service linking CityLine and the campus.
Corcoran also said students have become more engaged with the council over the past three or four years. Earlier ties between the city and the university leaned on faculty, staff and campus programs, he said, which left council members with less sense of students' daily concerns.