It's not about the parking.

Sure, the Student-Provo City Alliance originated in response to a parking program, and it's most well-known for that, but its leaders want the community to know that they're not going anywhere just because the immediate parking problem was resolved. Their goal is nothing short of making Provo a better place for everyone to live.

"One of the things that we see is that we have, with BYU, an untapped resource, a resource that will benefit long-term residents more than they realize," said Alliance President Andrew Walker.

What they're fighting is a long history of student groups that fire up and fizzle out with one issue or one student. That's why they're appealing to the rest of the community, not just students.

That's the message they're trying to get out at an information session Thursday night in the Municipal Council chambers. Walker said members of the group, which they incorporated recently into an official nonprofit organization, want to recruit homeowners who have lived here their whole lives, renters, Utah Valley University students, city officials and whoever else comes along and has interest.

The purpose is to open and maintain dialogue between all the people who are interested in helping Provo. That doesn't mean filling the council with students or focusing only on parking and student housing. What they want is to find and work with council members who will then create fair and judicious policies.

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"We're basically trying to become in essence partially a think tank for the community," Walker said.

The difficulty that may be facing them is being just another student group that fizzles out when the founders leave and the issue's over. Walker knows they have to overcome this. So does Municipal Council Chairwoman Cynthia Dayton, who has been on the council for years and seen plenty of similar groups come, and then go.

"There are different levels of success depending on what they surround themselves in," she said.

Many groups turn back to BYU for an identity, while others move toward neighborhood groups. A few years ago an underground group came forward wanting to discuss several issues. Typically, however, they're formed around a single focus, which hurts their longevity chances. So far, she said, she hasn't seen anything different from the alliance, although she'd like to.

"If they can do that, that's great," she said.

Councilman David Acheson has been on the council just three months longer than the Student-Provo City Alliance has been in existence

"I would love to see them be able to involve the BYU administration," he said, adding that the administration, along with the students and the city, are all constituencies to which the council is accountable. "It's a three-legged stool, that if, as with all three-legged stools, if you take one leg away, then it doesn't work properly."

Most issues don't actually come down to students against long-term residents; sometimes the argument just seems to come out that way. That's why, Acheson said, the idea of bringing together these different parties to resolve issues is necessary. To do that, though, some of the parties need to step up.

"Students should register to vote and then vote," he said.

Members of the alliance are taking President Barack Obama's example in registering and then inspiring younger voters to go to the polls.

That's why Alisha Walbrecht, vice president of student involvement for the alliance, registered to vote in Provo this summer and now is working on registering others.

"I realized that local elections and local politics will directly affect my life so much more and that my vote has a greater impact here," she said.

They're going door to door and have voter registration booths outside Macey's grocery store, and a fall Get Out the Vote Party already is in the works. In the meantime, they'll keep talking to everyone.

"In essence we would like long-term residents who are business leaders to come and partner with us as we try to use the brain trust of BYU to better Provo and its citizens, and that can only work as long as Provo citizens work with us," Walker said.

• Heidi Toth can be reached at htoth@heraldextra.com.

If you go

What: Student Provo-City Alliance Information Session

When: 7:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Municipal Council chambers at the Provo City Center, 451 W. Center St.

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