by any statute. This case has been cited by legal counsel for local governments, cautioning against enacting similar provisions. Towards improved relations After Brian C. Mitchell was installed as W&J President in 1998, he was surprised at the poor state of the college's relations with the city of Washington. During a courtesy visit to local officials early in his tenure, Mitchell was berated by the officials for 45 minutes, blaming the college "for everything that had gone wrong in the last 50 years.” With input from several other colleges and the Knight Collaborative, a national initiative designed to develop strategies for partnership between colleges and local community revitalization efforts, the college and the city developed the Blueprint for Collaboration, a plan with detailed goals and benchmarks for the future to help the College and the city work together on economic development, environmental protection, and historic preservation. The plan included provisions for the college to offer more academic opportunities for the community and to explore moving its bookstore into the downtown area, develop student housing in the downtown area, and to expand student use of the downtown eating, shopping, and visiting destinations. The City of Washington began a downtown revitalization project featuring new sidewalks, landscaping, and fiber-optic cables. The plan also called for an "investors roundtable," comprising federal and state officials, the banking community, commercial interests, and potential investors. Conflict over Strawberry Alley In April 2008, the location of the Swanson Science Center had to be shifted several feet towards Maiden Street after three members of the Washington City Council voted to reject an offer from the College to purchase Strawberry Alley, which runs through the campus. The College had offered $102,500 for the alleyway, which had an appraised value of $2,500. Following the vote, the Mayor of Washington indicated that one of the three nay votes had reneged on an agreement between the college and the council to accept the offer. Instead of accepting the offer, the City Council wanted to levy a $100 annual municipal services fee on each student, a proposal that was nearly identical to the service fee that was ruled illegal in 1995. The fee proposal never came to a vote, and in March 2010, the City Council voted unanimously to vacate Strawberry Alley, allowing the College to assume ownership of it for free. Student running for Washington City Council In February 2019, W&J student Trent