Nick Taiber, a Cedar Falls city councilor and a high-ranking Libertarian in Iowa, spoke to University of Iowa students on the evening of Nov. 30 in Schaeffer Hall about legislating liberty.

Taiber’s goal was to demonstrate how liberty can be applied at the local level. He said the Libertarian Party is growing, and if Republicans and Democrats could open their eyes, the party could grow even quicker. He wants to build party ranks and would like to see more Libertarians on ballots.

“The more people hear the word Libertarian, the more [accepted] it will become,” Taiber said.

Taiber touched on many local issues that are subject to economic discrimination, specifically in the Cedar Falls area. He said that he pushes good law and supports what he calls a lean government, or small government.

“Almost every law we have is designed around special interests,” Taiber said. “Locally, a lot of laws are passed blatantly with discrimination.”

Taiber discussed what he called the code cleanse, in which he participated in Cedar Falls. For the first time, officials reduced the number of pages the city has in its 2016 code. The cleanse eliminated the need for businesses, such as fortune tellers and masseuses, to have licenses.

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As a result, more cafés were able to expand outside seating, and the city sees more street and mobile vendors, such as food trucks. He said this opened up commerce in Cedar Falls.

“You’d be surprised on how limited businesses can be,” Taiber said.

He also worked to privatize some programs and was successful in the privatization of janitorial services and golf courses.

“If the vendor can provide that good or service, the government should have no interest being in it,” he said.

Taiber discussed numerous topics that he believes should be individual liberties and that the state government is overreaching. Some of these include the law for buildings to have lock boxes for the access of officials such as firefighters, gun-free zones, and housing and transportation.

“There’s that false sense of security — I think that’s what the government wants to provide you,” he said.

Taiber said zoning is one of the most discriminatory aspects of a city.

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“Whenever you have a law, you have unwanted limitations,” he said.

The UI Young Americans for Liberty hosted the event. The organization rallies around the idea of liberty and the promotion of free speech on campus.

UI sophomore Andrew Bartholomew, a group member, organized the event. He said that while his group doesn’t endorse the Libertarian Party, it often represents Libertarian values.

Bartholomew said that Taiber has experience in legislating liberty and has often had to go against the mainstream political atmosphere.

Abby Evans, the president of Young Americans for Liberty, said the group is trying to branch out in activist events. She thinks that by partnering with other political groups, they can open a conversation on campus.

Earlier in the semester, the Law Enforcement Action Partnership talked with the group about the war on drugs and the relationships between police and community.