The National League of Cities wrapped up its Congressional City Conference today (Wednesday) in the nation’s capital. One Iowan who attended was Ann Campbell, who was sworn in January third as the mayor of Ames. She met with officials from other college towns to talk about the concerns they share. She says they talked about their common outlook on “town-gown” relations, student rentals and other concerns. She also went to a meeting on city wireless networks, and the communities that are setting up citywide wi-fi links or doing it in combination with private operators.

Campbell says her town’s set aside money to study some kind of wireless computer network. In Ames it isn’t Iowa State University driving the call for wi-fi, it’s been the downtown businesses that see it as the cutting edge of economic-development opportunities. The city leaders went to visit Iowa’s congressional delegation during their three-day visit to Washington, which wrapped up this morning.

Other topics the city leaders studied in forums and workshops included voting rights, “No Child Left Behind,” violence, water supplies and eminent domain.