A crowd of about 20 people gathered at the Iowa Memorial Union on Thursday evening as Iowa City City Council candidate Oliver Weilein discussed his campaign’s focus on affordable housing and progressive policy. Hosted by the UI’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter, the event gave attendees a chance to ask questions and engage with Weilein’s vision for Iowa City.
Weilein encouraged students to make their voices heard in the upcoming special election in March, emphasizing the importance of young voters in the Iowa City community.
“You live here. You spend money here. You pay taxes here,” Weilein said, addressing the crowd of students. “Don’t let anybody tell you that you don’t have a seat at the table. Your vote counts just as much as anyone else’s.”
Initially uneasy about putting himself in the spotlight, given his criticisms of hierarchical power structures and what he called “hero worship,” Weilein said he ultimately chose to run for the council in the hope of driving real change and elevating ideals that resonate with many working-class people.
Weilein has also refused to solicit campaign donations, saying he doesn’t want supporters to put themselves in a difficult financial position and would rather see contributions go to unions or local organizations working toward systemic change.
“It’s not about me,” Weilein said of his campaign. “It’s about the values that we hold.”
A renter himself, Weilein said he sees the seat as an opportunity to bring tenant concerns directly to the table and hold landlords accountable.
“I think someone on city council who is a renter can use the legitimacy of that office,” Weilein said. “I think a landlord would respond to a city council member knocking on their door or sending them a letter. Which is something, if I’m elected, I’m very thrilled to do.”
Weilein also expressed his hopes to use his position, if elected, to support local unions, including the graduate student union Campaign to Organize Graduate Students, or COGS, which is currently awaiting negotiations with the University of Iowa to address a proposed 25 percent wage increase for graduate workers.
Weilien attended a recent protest organized by COGS on Wednesday demanding the university increase graduate student wages.
“COGS workers can’t make ends meet,” Weilein said, encouraging the audience to show up to the upcoming negotiations in support of the union.
Weilein also aims to tackle the systemic issues behind Iowa City’s affordable housing shortage. He pointed to international models like Vienna, Austria, where the majority of residents live in publicly owned or subsidized housing that is well-maintained, integrated across income levels, and designed to remain permanently affordable.
In terms of modeling such action in Iowa City, Weilein said he would advocate for policies like a right of first refusal law, allowing tenants or designated groups the first chance to buy rental properties — a policy already implemented in cities like Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.
“It is successful. It is financially sound. It is fairly easy to implement. There’s so much data backing it up,” Weilein said.
Confident that his progressive ideas could gain traction, Weilein expressed optimism about collaborating with other city council members.
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“Part of me deciding to do this in the first place is that I realized that the people on the city council will be able to be worked with,” Weilein said.
Weilein said he would advocate for Iowa City’s growing homeless population, a concern rising both statewide and nationally. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, Iowa’s unsheltered population has increased by 56 percent since 2023, as reported in its August 2024 State of Homelessness report.
Emphasizing the humanity of homeless individuals drives his passion, he also stressed that solutions are economically beneficial for both the city and county. He pointed to Iowa City’s Cross Park Place, a permanent supportive housing initiative, as a successful example of the housing-first approach.
“Not only is it the right thing to do but it’s beneficial for society as a whole in any way you can imagine,” Weilein said.
Noah Pavelich, a fourth-year political science major and co-chair of UI’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter, said that the issue of affordable housing in Iowa City particularly resonates with the student population.
“One of the most important things, if you look at a lot of the newer developments in Iowa City right now, it’s all upper class, not super affordable for the average college student,” Pavelich said. “And that puts a lot of college students in a bind.”
Both Pavelich and Dave Cacho Serrano, a third-year political science, ethics, and public policy major and co-chair of the chapter, said their own struggles as student renters in Iowa City make them especially eager to support Weilein’s campaign.
“Housing is a very big issue within our own political beliefs, and in a real-world application,” Cacho said. “A lot of college students who are in need of housing can’t afford it.”