It can be seen as a changing of the guard.

After 12 years of service to East Lansing as a member of the City Council, Bill Sharp lost his bid for reelection earlier this month.

For more than a decade Sharp has shaped policies that have affected thousands of MSU students as they have studied, lived and worked in the city.

His experience and dedication to the city cannot be questioned. In addition to his 12 years of service on council, he was a police officer with the East Lansing Police Department and has lived in the city since 1948.

His time on the council has seen a number of controversial issues, such as the April 2-3 disturbances, the East Village redevelopment project and the noise ordinance. Sharp supported the original passage of the noise ordinance in 2003. He also believes alcohol to be the cause of many of the city's problems. He's advocated limiting the number of bars in the downtown area.

In fact, he told The State News Editorial Board that if he could do one thing in the downtown area, it would be to close its bars. He did, however, acknowledge it wasn't likely to ever happen.

For many students, this line of thinking can be seen as anti-student. After all, when someone points out alcohol as a large problem in the city, they are clearly referring to student behavior.

Sharp did not seem to make an attempt to reach out and connect to all members of the community. He told us he did not campaign door- to-door, because he did not want to bother people on their own time. Instead, he suggested people could contact him whenever they had a concern.

This is a noble idea, but it doesn't work with everyone in the city. To connect to students, it is necessary to go out and meet them. They aren't likely to come to you.

Sharp did an OK job representing a portion of the city during his term. His leadership and business experience contributed to the city's ability to maintain a balanced budget. He advocated the rights of seniors and helped to make the city a better place for them.

However, at a time when one of the biggest issues facing the city is repairing the relationship between the city and students, a change might be the best thing for East Lansing. His replacement, Kevin Beard, is younger, and brings a lot of experience to the table.

Hopefully, he will bring a new, fresh, perspective, which will help the city to build on many good things it has done with the help of Sharp.