Sean C. Morgan
Members of the Sweet Home Youth Advisory Council last week spent a day visiting the state Capitol meeting with elected officials, including the governor, learning about what they do and their opinions on various issues.
The YAC is a service-oriented committee of Sweet Home community youths who advise the City Council on various issues and organize and assist in local events.
Four of them, Sarah Hewitt, Elea Hewitt, Chase Boyd and Madelyn Neuschwander, and three guests, Evan Davis, C.J. Robinson and Corbin Wright, attended. Robinson is a home-school student from Mill City. The Hewetts, Boyd, Newschwander, Davis and Wright are Sweet Home High School students.
“We set up appointments with the governor for it,” said City Councilor Lisa Gourley. “Then we back-filled (the schedule) with senators and representatives.”
Some elected officials weren’t able to spend much time with the youths because they were busy, Gourley said, while others had to come off the legislative floor in between votes to meet with them.
Sen. Fred Girod, who represents the Sweet Home area, met with them briefly, while Rep. Phil Barnhart, who represents the area southwest of the Sweet Home city limits, and Rep. Dan Rayfield, representing the Corvallis area, kept coming off the House of Representatives floor between votes to talk with the students.
The youths also met with Sen. Sara Gesler of Corvallis, Portland-area Sen. Michael Dembrow and Rep. Sherrie Sprenger, who represents the Sweet Home area. Also on their schedule, they met with Oregon School Employees Association lobbyists Sorin Metzger and Tyler Shipman.
“We looked at bills, and we looked at issues that might affect the school and community,” Gourley said. In preparation, they looked at proposed state budgets and met with Supt. Tom Yahraes as a dry run at meeting with public officials.”
She said students prepared by learning about lobbying and meeting procedure, and preparing questions. The governor’s office called ahead to find out more about each of the youths, and when they arrived in Salem May 24, they began meeting with the governor and other officials.
“They went in and each were able to ask the question of their choice.”
The governor spent a full half hour with the seven students, Gourley said. “That’s a long time (with her schedule).”
Dembrow spent a lot of time with them as well, she said. Rayfield and Barnhart spent more than 15 minutes each coming off the floor to talk with them.
“The kids were able to (interact) with them and match them at a more personal level,” Gourley said. “They got the whole nine yards.”
Having face time with these officials helped the students better understand how they work with each other and constituents to create the best policies they can for Oregon, said Elea Hewitt. “Building relationships is a very, very important part of trying to achieve anything in a democracy.”
“It wasn’t as daunting as I originally thought,” said Sarah Hewitt. “I really got more encouraged to get more involved in my state government.”
“We just got to get up close and personal (with them),” Boyd said, especially with their own representative.
“It gave me an inside view,” Davis said. “It also put a face to a name and helped me trust those officials a lot more” and good information about how leadership works at the state level.
“It also gave me a reality check,” Boyd said. He expected the Capitol to be crowded with people talking about the details of immigration policy, for example; but they’re working a wider variety of issues than show up in the headlines.
Elea Hewitt said it was refreshing to see them address issues important to the youths.
Among their questions and discussions, Sarah Hewitt asked each official what he or she is doing to prepare her generation for the effects of climate change.
Elea Hewitt thanked them for preserving the Elliott State Forest, an 82,500-acre coastal forest state officials had considered selling to a timber company.
Boyd asked about “tiny houses” and “small houses.” Development of property with tiny houses is a movement based on a variety of motivations allowing for simpler living in smaller, more efficient spaces, with houses ranging in size from 100 square feet to 400 square feet.
Boyd said that state officials seem focused on safety issues surrounding them.
“I asked about post high school education and cost reduction,” Davis said.
“I’m excited about what they’re able to learn and what they’re doing,” Gourley said. “They’re really smart kids.”
Coming up, the YAC will join Will Tucker for lunch in a city park, Gourley said, and the members will help with the second annual Health Fair and the second annual Zombie Zoup Run.
Special thanks go to the School District Transportation Department, Gourley said. When the van the city planned to use didn’t work out, the School District generously provided transportation, including a driver.
The YAC meets on the third Tuesday of the month, typically at 6 p.m. at Sweet Home High School.
For more information about the YAC or to join, call the city manager’s office at (541) 367-8969.