Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The Sweet Home Youth Advisory Council has revived after a year of no activity.
The City Council, on Nov. 8, appointed five youths to the committee during its regular meeting.
Appointed were Bryana Bittner, eighth grade; Laura Gourley, freshman; Stephanie Wodtli, sophomore; Erik Keeler, senior; and Tracy Smith, sophomore at large.
Ten youths applied for the five seats. Other applicants included Bradley Pitts, eighth grade; Michelle Rene Davis, eighth grade; Chelsea Gagner, senior; Larissa Bjornsen, sophomore; and Tracy Smith, sophomore.
Of the 11-member council, six seats were not filled, including two sixth-grade seats, the seventh-grade seat, the East Linn Christian Academy seat and the junior seat.
City Council members encouraged the other applicants to be active and attend meetings although they were not appointed to the Youth Advisory Council.
Among the first things the new Youth Advisory Council may do is take a look at the group?s bylaws and consider changes so it can fill more seats, City Manager Craig Martin said. The bylaws dictate who must fill each seat.
Possible solutions include simply allowing four students of any age to serve in the high school seats and two students in general from the junior high, Martin said. That will be for the youth council to decide.
The Youth Advisory Council started two years ago, with four seniors, to advise the City Council on matters of interest and which affect the city?s youth. Last year, the city was unable to find any students interested in serving on the committee.
?We didn?t do anything different this year as compared to last year,? Martin said.
He said he thinks two main factors contributed to the heightened interest this year.
First is the completion of the skate park and the recent public discussion of possibly curtailing operations there, Martin said. Second is the recent drug-enforcement activity around the high school.
Almost every applicant identified drugs and substance abuse as problems and top interests, Martin said.
?We didn?t have a situation like that last year when we were trying to recruit.?
The youth committee fulfills a City Council goal, set two years ago, of getting community youth involved and giving them a voice, Martin said.
Recruitment efforts have included posters, advertising, word of mouth, fliers and classroom visits by city officials, Martin said.
?They?ve always been really responsive. It just seemed like this was more motivational to make them commit this year than last year.?
The youth council?s irst meeting will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 17, during which the committee will have an introduction and orientation, Martin said. It will include information on public meetings and records law and a basic discussion of how the committee might want to modify its bylaws and strategizing ways to fill more vacancies.
After that, the committee?s ?agenda is kind of up to them to set,? Martin said. The City Council can refer matters to the youth council, and the youth council can refer matters to the city council.
?It?s an open slate,? Martin said. ?We want to hear from them. They (the council) were really pleased with the amount of interest this year. I?m excited. I think It?ll be neat. I think we?ve got a couple issues that are ripe for getting youth input on, the skate park and the whole concept of a drug-free community.?