Council support student representation

By Ricky Talbot

The Port Angeles City Council recently agreed to add student representation to seven advisory committees. 

“I think this is a great idea,” City Councilmember Jim Moran said. “Thirty years old and younger don’t participate, so to get them to join and get into this arena at an earlier age may encourage them some day to be on a planning commission.” 

This is a strong first step to discuss how to include student representation in city government. 

“It is important to have a student representative” Port Angeles Mayor Sissi Bruch,wrote in an email, “because we need to have all voices at the table when we make decisions.   The student perspective has new technology and youth informing this point of view.”  

Student representation on all the committees is still in the planning phases and will need more discussion before a plan is voted on.  

At the moment, eighth-grade through 12th-grade students are being considered to fill these positions.  

Students age 18 and above are old enough to apply for a position as a council member in the advisory committees.  

As a result, part of the discussion surrounding this decision is how to include college students without taking opportunities away from younger students not old enough to vote. 

The advisory committees that will include student representation are the Lodging Tax Committee, Parks/ Recreation & Beautification Committee (currently has 2 youth positions), Planning Commission, Public Safety Advisory Board (currently has 1 youth position), Utility Advisory Committee, PA Forward and the Civil Service Committee.

Since these committees are already staffed, new staff won’t need to be hired to create a new program.  Students can get mentored by those already familiar in that field.

In order to get a position on the committees, it was proposed that the students could be recommended by teachers in the school and then go through and interview process with the specific committees to see if it would be a good position. 

Discussion on student representation ended with a general consensus by council members to have two youth positions added to the seven advisory committees.