Seattle Youth Commission is becoming official! Earlier this week, Councilmember Tim Burgess, chair of the Public Safety and Education Committee and good friend of the SYC introduced an ordinance that will make the SYC an official board and commission of the City. This means that the Seattle Youth Commissioners will have increased access to the Seattle City Council and to the budget process. As an official Commission we will be holding meetings that are open to the public and posting all the meetings minutes on our new website www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/syc. Check out Councilmember Burgess’ comments about the Ordinance and about the SYC below:
| A New Youth Voice “…Almost one-fifth of Seattle’s population is under 20 years old; not many can vote, but most can actively participate in the life of this city. To encourage this involvement, I introduced legislation on Monday establishing the Seattle Youth Commission. The Commission will be a continuation of a program started in 2003 by Mayor Nickels. Its new status and mandate will draw it closer to the Council and the Mayor. Twenty-five youth from all 13 districts of the City will serve one-year terms, during which they will seek input from their peers, develop policy proposals and lobby my colleagues and me on issues that matter to them. I look forward to hearing from them!…” |
The mission of the Seattle Youth Commission is to connect and engage Seattle’s youth in the City’s civic participatory process and expose our elected officials to the voices and perspectives of youth in order to directly impact the policies, budgets, and decisions that affect Seattle’s youth and to foster inter-personal relationships, which effectively empower and inspire youth to take on roles as leaders, facilitators and public speakers.
