There is a group of civic-minded citizens making recommendations for the Lake Forest Park City Council and cleaning up a park they adopted. All this, despite the fact the majority of the group are not old enough to vote.
The city’s Youth Council is in its fourth year and has 18 members.
Lake Forest Park staff formed the Youth Council in 2005 to represent the interests of Lake Forest Park’s youths, according to a city newsletter. Each year high school students apply to serve on the council. Once selected, the teens organize and participate in community events.
At last week’s Youth Council meeting, five members, all Shorecrest High School students, met. Topics up for discussion included organizing a trail building event, Halloween activities and compiling more information for the City Council about long boarding on city streets.
The City Council asked the Youth Council for its recommendation after a group of citizens asked the council to repeal laws prohibiting long boarders from riding in the street.
Youth Council is open to middle and high school students living in Lake Forest Park. And even though these five members attend Shorecrest High, Youth Council members do not have to attend schools in the Shoreline School District.
The Youth Council organizes booths at Farmers Markets, maintains Lyon Creek Park through Adopt-a-Park, face paints at Third Place Commons for Halloween events and hosts a green fair.
These activities fulfilled their focus of providing informational, educational and service-oriented events.
Council Chair Dani Lyons, 17, said this year’s council is trying to communicate more frequently with the City Council about their viewpoints on issues and the activities they are planning.
Tema Nesoff, community services manager, said the City Council is interested in what the Youth Council has to say.
This City Council takes this year’s Youth Council more seriously than in year’s past, particularly after the youths presented what they learned during leadership training.
“They reported back to council and it really gelled,” Nesoff said. “Councils hadn’t looked at them as confidently as they do now.”
The Youth Council teaches teens leadership, civic involvement and understanding city government, Nesoff said, adding that at the end of the school year, they are more “sophisticated and knowledgeable.”
Co-advisor Ross Eide said participating will make the youths more effective citizens because they learn and witness how local government works.
“It shows them the mechanism of local government,” he said. “And if down the road if there’s an issue they know how the mechanics work.”
Lyons said she heard about the Youth Council in middle school and saw it as an opportunity to learn how to get involved with city government.
Vice-chair Blake Hartley, 16, said initially he was looking to fulfill a graduation requirement to complete community service.
But Hartley stayed involved when he realized he had the chance to participate in government by attending City Council candidates’ forums and meetings and addressing issues deferred to them by the City Council.
“It’s really interesting to be a part of something more,” he said.
Earlier this month, the members attended a City Council candidates’ forum where some Youth Council members asked the council how they will include teens and their opinions on allowing long boarding in the streets.
Hartley said the forum showed him how he could have some control over issues impacting him.
“You get a little control rather than sitting and watching,” he said.
Lyons said the forum showed the candidates’ personalities and the Youth Council had the chance to reach out.
“It helps to be recognized as a force that’s there,” she said.
Zachary Gadd, 16, council secretary, said it was rewarding learning more about the candidates so he could teach his dad about them.
Gadd said it was impressive watching council members Sandy Koppenol and Alan Kiest “attack” one another.
Kiest said during the forum one can tell a lot about an opponent based on their campaign and described Koppenol’s strategy as an “attack approach.” Both candidates were quick to point out each other’s differences and who supported traffic cameras, senior center funding and the city’s Legacy Project.
Each time Koppenol or Kiest made an argument it was backed up with facts and it showed both knew what they were talking about, he said.
“It was nice to go home and tell my dad who I thought was better and how I felt about this candidate,” Gadd half-joked.
Gadd was not interested in politics until he joined the council, but the group appealed to his interest in debate.
“It’s fun to debate and have friendly debating where at the end you don’t hate each other,” he said.
Haley Monson, 15, joined after being urged to by her sister and because politics have always interested her.
Monson said by living in a smaller city, it is nice to have a voice.
She said her ideas are typically in the minority in Lake Forest Park so it does not take much encouragement to voice her opinions on “issues that make me angry, and then I have something to say.”
Ashley Paulsen, 17, who is interested in a future career in politics or as a lawyer, joined so she could get a feel for government.
Paulsen likes being a part of and watching the process of watching the council set policies, she said.
“I like seeing ideas follow through.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
