EVERETT – Chelsea Berry, 11, took the microphone to suggest that schools do more to make learning fun.
What surprised her was that more than 100 people, including Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, were listening.
Chelsea was among 14 students who spoke Thursday night at the Voices of Youth Kids’ Futures summit.
“Adults should listen to kids more often because kids have really good ideas,” said Chelsea, who attends Lynndale Elementary School.
The panel of students talked about everything from drug and alcohol use to after-school activities. This was the summit’s fifth year.
More than a dozen elected officials and candidates attended the forum, along with people from throughout Snohomish County.
“I think it’s important for adults in the community who don’t have kids to come and hear what they have to say,” said Jeneen Jones, a classroom assistant at Granite Falls High School. “I hope the adults listen.”
Many of the students said there are not enough places for teens to go for help, and those that exist aren’t well known.
“There are a lot of teens at my school who look normal and get good grades and look like they have nothing wrong with them, but they do,” said Nathan Hoston, 13, a student at Meadowdale Middle School.
“I think there should be a program after school for teens to talk to someone,” he said.
Other students suggested increasing the number of after-school activities to keep students away from alcohol and drugs.
“We need to get more drug-free activities and more parent awareness,” said Chantel Dean,17, a senior at Granite Falls Alternative High School.
Reardon praised the students for asking tough questions, saying “very rarely do we have the opportunity to hear such honest, straightforward dialogue about what’s going on.”
Sabrina Berthold, 17, who attends Jackson High School in Mill Creek, said she hopes the forum will help Reardon and other officials make decisions about issues affecting young people.
“I think it was very important so many people were there to listen to what I had to say, because I care about my community,” she said.
Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.
Students speak
Read more about the 14 students who spoke at the Voices of Youth summit in Monday’s Herald. Check the inside of the Local section for a sampling of what they had to say.
ELECTION 2004: FIRE DISTRICT TAX LEVIES
Four fire districts seek levy support
Herald Staff
Four fire districts are asking voters to approve tax increases to support fire and emergency medical services.
Fire District 4, Snohomish
Fire District 4 is turning to voters again Tuesday to approve a tax increase for ambulance and paramedic services that came 14 votes short of the required 60 percent supermajority in the September primary election.
“Everyone is cautiously optimistic,” Fire Chief Robert Merritt said.
The district is asking for a permanent 50-cent levy – a 28-cent increase from the current 22-cent levy. The new rate would cost the owner of a $250,000 home $125 annually.
The district, which serves about 30,000 residents in Snohomish and the surrounding area, has mailed information to residents about the measure because some don’t know which fire district serves them, Merritt said.
“The most important thing is people need to understand who provides them protection,” he said.
The district also put the measure in the voters pamphlet, which it didn’t do for September’s primary, Merritt added.
If voters reject the measure again, the district would likely reduce staff, cut public training programs and close fire stations, Merritt said.
The current levy expires at the end of December.
District 5, Sultan
When a resident has chest pains on a Saturday or a small fire breaks out on Easter, volunteer firefighters answer the call.
Fire officials want to hire full-time firefighters to respond to those calls on weekends and holidays to improve response times and ease the burden on volunteers.
The district is asking voters to approve a $1.50 fire levy – a 61-cent increase from the current 89-cent levy. If approved, the owner of a $200,000 house would pay $300 a year, up from $178 a year.
The levy, which would to generate about $300,000, would be used to staff the station seven days a week, 12 hours a day with full-time firefighters, Fire Chief Merlin Halverson said.
“We have a small, excellent staff of volunteers, and we want to keep them,” he said.
The district, which serves about 10,000 residents, has been called to more than 900 emergencies this year.
The levy also would pay for emergency radios needed when the county switches to the 800-megahertz system.
District 7, Clearview
Voters are being asked to renew a levy to support paramedic services. The levy, which expires in December, is the primary funding source for the advanced life support program, Fire Chief Rick Eastman said.
The district, which serves about 45,000 residents south of Snohomish, has 20 paramedics.
The district is asking for 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value – the same rate it has collected for the last two decades, Eastman said. The owner of a $200,000 house would pay $50 a year.
The paramedic program costs about $2.8 million a year. Ambulance fees offset a portion of the cost, Eastman said.
If the levy doesn’t pass “it certainly jeopardizes our paramedic services,” he said.
District 22, Getchell
If you have a heart attack in Getchell during the day, paramedics will probably reach you within six minutes.
At night, getting an ambulance to your door could take three times as long.
That’s why Getchell firefighters are asking voters to approve a permanent 50-cent levy. The money would pay for a firefighter with emergency medical technician training to be on duty at night. Volunteers now answer those calls.
“It’s really a life-threatening issue. The more the population is building up, the more urgent it is that we’re there on time,” Fire Commissioner Bennett Butters said.
The proposed levy would cost the owner of a $200,000 home $100 a year. The district’s previous levy expired three years ago, and the district has struggled to pay for emergency medical calls since then, Butters said.
The fire district responded to 470 emergencies in 2003. Of those, 80 percent were for patients who needed emergency medical care. The district serves about 9,000 people.
The money also would help fund a new aid car and new radios that work with the county’s new emergency communications system.
Herald reporters Yoshiaki Nohara, Diana Hefley and Katherine Schiffner contributed to this story.
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