Youth get a voice on Edmonds City Council

Published 12:01 am Monday, September 26, 2011

EDMONDS — Edmonds-Woodway High School senior Alex Springer has been selected as the student representative to sit with the Edmonds City Council through this school year.

The position is more than a civics lesson. The Edmonds council hopes to elicit the opinions of the local youth. Generally, there is no shortage on input and Springer eagerly wants to continue the trend.

“I wanted to be more involved with my community,” Springer said. “Young people need to have their voices heard on issues and their influence felt. We want to make a difference.”

In seeking the seat, Springer applied through Geoff Bennett, assistant principal. The main qualification was to be a senior this year and to live in the city of Edmonds.

Springer wrote a short essay on what his initiatives would be, should he be selected. After an interview, he took his seat on the dais earlier this month.

An avid cyclist, Springer identified the need for bike racks to be placed in sheltered areas at his school.

“I ride to school every day and park my bike, with others, outside,” he said. “It makes for a wet ride going home.”

He suggested the solution would be to position the bike racks within the covered walkways.

After his time with council, Springer also is eyeing the traffic danger at the corner of 196th Street and 88th Avenue West.

As a former student of Edmonds Elementary commuting to and from school by car, he has had daily experience with that intersection.

“People are accelerating to get up the hill; there are two blind corners,” he said. “It was scary some mornings.”

At school, Springer is taking international baccalaureate courses. While math and science classes are his favorites, he is currently enjoying a theory of knowledge class.

His biking enthusiasm brought him to the North Shore Mountain Biking team. He also is on the Warriors’ cross country, swim, and track and field teams.