Part of what I wanted to get done this year was to increase our involvement within the London community. In the past few weeks we've made extreme headway in getting that direction, and I'm happy to share some of that with you.

Last week I sat down with London Mayor Joe Fontana in the FSU office to discuss local issues that are affecting students. The biggest issues I've been hearing from students are undoubtedly around housing and transit. We talked about the cost of rent, treatment of students from their landlords, illegal housing conditions, staggered garbage days and the by-laws that I feel are specifically targeted towards students (such as the 24-hour noise by-law). We also talked about transit extended hours, a possible route between Fanshawe and UWO, and having a rapid transit system in the city.

We talked about the FSU and it came up that student council had a meeting that night. Without hesitation, the mayor asked if he could stop by. I was completely floored by his request, but unfortunately we already had a pretty packed meeting on our hands.

Just kidding.

On February 9, the mayor came to the student council meeting to talk to your student representatives about his vision for London. "I want you to become taxpayers in London," he said in his typical straight-talk fashion. "So I want to hear from you how we can make this city a better place." We also talked about Fanshawe College's proposal for a downtown campus, how we may soon have a voice in the downtown core. He described to us his vision for a digital gaming centre in London, and the development of the southern part of the Hwy. 401 corridor.

It was an extreme honour to have the mayor visit the FSU, but in the end, all we really did was talk. We should continue the dialogue, but we've also got to start taking some action. Use www.london.ca as a resource and let the city know what you want to change, and to see how you can get involved.

I really believe this mayor is going to do great things for London, but I don't expect him to do it alone. Make sure you're getting in on the action, even if it's just an email to your councilor. That email goes right to their phones, so it can be pretty effective. It's as simple as that!
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.