City and university interests joined forces in their first joint meeting in recent years to discuss issues concerning students, from taxi fares to apartment price gouging.
City Commissioner Jeanna Mastrodicasaled the meeting between the City Commission and Student Senate on Tuesday night in Mayor Craig Lowe’s absence.
She suggested the idea for a joint meeting, which was a tradition back when she took office in 2006.
Student Senate President Ben Meyers said the meeting was important because it encouraged discussion between students and city officials.
“Too often, students forget that we are residents of Gainesville for as long as we’re here,” Meyers said.
Mastrodicasa hopes these meetings will become, at the very least, an annual event, but there will probably not be another one until the fall 2011 or spring 2012 semesters.
The meeting was dominated by the issue of taxi fares, which gained recent attention after a sting operation by the Gainesville Police Department, University Police Department and Student Government members showed that some drivers have unfairly hiked prices for students.
Several taxi drivers at the meeting argued that they face mistreatment by their student customers, who sometimes act as drunk and disorderly riders or rush out of the cabs without paying their fare.
Mastrodicasa said the issue would be discussed further at the February Public Safety Commission meeting.
Also at the meeting, a student senator expressed concern over the meal limit at St. Francis House, which provides aid and food for the homeless.
Senators also offered a presentation about student apartment rental problems, such as price gouging and unfair evictions.
