The Student Association Thursday recommended former NIU student Nick Valadez as alderman for the student-dominated 7th Ward.

DeKalb Mayor Greg Sparrow asked SA President Huda Scheidelman to choose a candidate for the empty 7th Ward City Council position that was vacated Aug. 15, when Mark Powell resigned from the council. Sparrow will present the council with three names, one of which will be approved.

The SA interviewed five candidates Tuesday night: NIU students Jeff Monroe, Thomas Gary and Roy Withirow, and former NIU students Dulari Tikoo and Valadez. After the 15-minute separate interviews, the six SA senators and Scheidelman unanimously ranked the candidates in order from least acceptable to most acceptable.

The six interviewing senators “did a great job studentizing the candidates,” Scheidelman said.

Valadez “far outweighs all the other candidates” for the SA’s recommendation because of his “history of working for the students,” she said. Valadez has served as SA president and speaker and was the NIU student regent for the past two years.

Valadez’s selection was based upon the “concrete evidence” he would help his constituents and that the other candidates gave no evidence of their support of the ward’s constituents, Scheidelman said.

“I felt the process was most fair and just,” she said, adding Valadez gained respect during his term as student regent and at the university, although he was “at odds” with both on many issues.

With the redistricting issue coming before the City Council, the 7th Ward needs a “strong person,” and student dominated wards need more representation, said SA Community Affairs Adviser Brian Subatich.

Sparrow said he would consider the recommendation, but said he has no feeling one way or the other as to whether Valadez is a good choice.

“You have to look at the perspective” of the SA, Sparrow said. “The Student Association is strictly a student organization and I think it can somewhat identify with students on campus.

“I’m not sure the SA speaks for all the students or even a majority of the students,” he said. The fact there was such a large number of write-in candidates at the SA elections shows there is not enough student interest represented by the SA, he said.

Sparrow said he hopes to “bring back the integrity of the ward” and promote the best opportunities to work with the City Council.

Gary, an NIU student majoring in political science, was the second choice for the position, Scheidelman said. Withirow placed third primarily because he does did not live in the ward, she said.

The senators labeled Tikoo and Monroe as unacceptable candidates for the aldermanic position, she said. Since Tikoo lost to Powell in the 1987 aldermanic elections, the SA felt she would not be a good choice to run again, Scheidelman said.

Scheidelman defined an acceptable candidate as considering the views of his or her constituents, working with the City Council and dealing with council issues.

“Monroe did not represent the student constituents” and lacked the “maturity” to handle the responsibilities of the ward, she said. Monroe has shown a “superior loyalty to the university, which is not positive with the City Council,” Subatich said.

The final decision for 7th Ward alderman is scheduled to be made at the Nov. 9 council meeting, he added.