MOUNT VERNON — In a January 2023 solutions story, Knox Pages asked: Can a Mayor’s Youth Council increase civic participation?
Tuesday night, Mount Vernon City Council members heard the answer: Yes.
The idea of a youth council took shape when Auralie Yoder heard Mayor Matt Starr discuss involving youth in local government.
Starr participated in the April 2020 Knox Pages forum Coronavirus Conversations. Yoder, a Mount Vernon High School sophomore, tuned into the presentation.
They wrote bylaws, recruited students, created agendas, and launched the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council in September 2022.
Members of the MYLC shared what they learned at Tuesday’s council meeting.
New careers and lessons learned
Mateo Pecho-Elkins’ perception of government became “a lot less like an unknowable monolithic black book” as the students learned how the different sectors interact. He said the group showed him the possibility of government as a career.
“Before joining my junior year, I don’t think I would ever thought such a career possible because of how distant and disconnected government can feel without ways like this to participate and understand it,” he said.
“The mayor’s youth council has given me the opportunity to find this interest and given me ideas how to pursue it. My experience here will serve as a strong starting point for continuing to work and study government.”
Pecho-Elkins will attend Yale to study ethics, politics, and economics.
Sabina Hawks noted the group’s flexibility. She said it is one of the few “that allows students to blossom in all aspects of life while still committing so much to the work that is important to them here.”
Mostly, however, MLYC was pivotal in Hawks’ career choice.
“Through MYLC I’ve been able to explore aspects of the government,” she said. “This has inspired me to also follow a path into government, starting with my major in history at Vassar College.”
When Olivia Stein joined MYLC last year as a junior, she had no idea what it entailed. She highlighted officer leadership opportunities and service projects:
- Packing lunches for the Winter Sanctuary.
- The tire recycling event.
- Serving as timers for Knox Pages’ candidate panels for the March primary election.
“My takeaway from this experience is to not take my local community for granted. Everyone in this group has different goals and will end up in different places, but we all will still be able to say we grew up here and are proud we did since we know what really happens behind the scenes,” the Cleveland State-bound Stein told council.
A bright future for the youth council
Brady Kaufman heads to The Ohio State University this fall after serving two years on the youth council. He referenced the new and exciting events regarding the community, including the candidate race held at the Woodward.
He also noted the council’s future looks bright as a recruiting effort at the high school was successful.
“With one day of advertising, the sign-up sheet was filled front to back with names,” he said.
“This is great news for us as we helped in laying a foundation for the program so students can become better aware of their local government as logistical challenges.”
Two juniors will return to the youth council for their senior year.
“The mayor’s youth council has brought me closer to my community as it has taught me many of the issues within Mount Vernon,” Taylor Couch said. “The mayor has taught us how we can fix those issues, or at least how we can get the solution to those issues started.”
Those issues include piping, flooding, and sidewalk issues.
“I learned the core people and processes to keep the community running, such as starting new projects, building new roads, creating and approving budgets, and running debates like the one we had a few months ago,” Brooklyn Grohe said.
“These experiences have shaped what the community means to me and brought me closer to the people in it.”
Showing appreciation
The youth leaders presented Starr with a plaque depicting a city map with their signatures.
They also presented council sponsors Mark and Elaine Hauberg with MYLC T-shirts.
“I have to say I am very proud of the youth council members who have been in here for a couple of years and the two newbies who are going to be assuming leadership responsibilities,” Starr said.
“They’re paying attention. I was really pleased to hear that a few of them want to go on and study policy, economics, public service, and government.”
