Aldermen and university officials agreed Monday to cooperate to work on the issues of student safety and off-campus parties in the first City-University Task Force meeting, which Northwestern’s top administrators were unable to attend.

Residents and aldermen also discussed the possibility of licensing landlords and increasing street lighting near NU this spring. Members of the task force agreed to create a roundtable discussion to allow residents, students, city officials and administrators to exchange ideas about enforcing the student code of conduct off campus.

Vice President for Business and Finance Eugene Sunshine and Vice President for Student Affairs William Banis — who both are members of the task force — could not attend the meeting because of prior commitments, Sunshine said. Chief Bruce Lewis of University Police, another committee member, could not attend because he was on duty.

Sunshine told the Daily before the meeting that the issue of student behavior is less pertinent than the recent robberies and assaults that have occurred on and near campus. He said off-campus student behavior has not been a problem for the last five weekends.

In an interview before the meeting, Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) accused the university of only addressing the safety issue by blaming the city, rather than committing resources to the problem.

“They completely exaggerated in the (Chicago) Tribune (on Monday) the effort that they’re making,” he said. “They need to spend more of their own money and stop talking about what the city should be doing.”

Newman said during the meeting that the city is very concerned with the attacks but that Evanston Police Department has limited resources. He urged the university to step up UP foot patrols on Clark, Foster and Noyes streets.

“I’m of the opinion that the university can do more for you by getting those foot patrols,” Newman said. “I’m going to press this issue because I want more resources for the students.”

At the meeting Newman also said UP should expand its force, citing the fact that University of Chicago’s police force has more than 100 officers more than UP.

But Lucile Krasnow, NU’s special assistant for community relations, said she was tired of hearing Newman cite these numbers.

“This is the third time I’ve heard you say this,” she said. “I think it’s a disservice to Northwestern (to say) that we are unaware of the number of police we need.”

Krasnow said UP has tripled its enforcement in the past few weeks and upped its eight-hour shifts to last 12 hours.

EPD Chief Frank Kaminski also said he has been in contact with Lewis about how to remedy the problems of student safety.

“The commitment of resources we’re getting from the university is pretty substantial,” Kaminski said.

But he said students also need to focus more on safety.

“A lot of times it’s the early morning hours, a lone victim that has sometimes been at a party or a bar,” Kaminski said. “If you’re going out late, you’ve got to be alert.”

Aldermen and university officials also said they would work on more solutions to crack down on student misbehavior off campus. Krasnow said the university has considered resident complaints and officials are working to create stricter consequences for off-campus misconduct.

“We want word to spread around the students that it’s a pain in the neck to get in trouble,” Krasnow said.

Newman said he wanted to have greater fines for students who host off-campus parties as well.

Task force members also said they would be in favor of a landlord-licensing program that would allow the city to revoke licenses for landlords who continually violate city codes.

Newman said landlords who continue to shirk their duties are causing problems not only for neighbors but also for the students who live in their buildings.

“We’re going to make sure these landlords aren’t renting rat traps to students,” he said. “It’s not about town-gown relations, it’s about creating a safe neighborhood.”

Newman said despite the arguments, he was pleased with the outcome of the meeting.

“We have the commitment (from the university),” he said, “and I believe the commitment is real.”