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Young adults line up for the Youth Commission in Hayward, CA.
By Tammye McDuff • September 29, 2020
One of the priorities of the Norwalk City Council was to involve Norwalk youth in an official way to provide input into City Operations, in particular to programming, communications and development projects.
City Manager Jesus Gomez stated “Due to CoVID, we obviously had to slow down a bit with programs, but as we gain in momentum, we wanted to bring this issue back to City Council for input and guidance in establishing the Youth Commission once again.”
In September 2005, City council voted to dissolve the Youth Commission, at the end of 2019, conversations began regarding potentially re-establishing the Youth Commission.
Staff polled the Teen Alliance Program participants to determine if there was an interest among local teenagers and received positive input from 40 teens.
Establishing a Youth Commission in Norwalk would be beneficial both to the City as well as the further development of Norwalk’s younger residents. The City would be able to gain valuable input on the youth perspective to improve recreational programs and City hosted events, which would be useful in shaping future events and development opportunities by incorporating their ideas into the design plans.
The Commission would be comprised of teens 13 to 18 years of age who are currently enrolled in school or are a recent graduate. The role of these individuals would be to provide a platform for open discussions with City officials and assist in bridging the gap in communication. There would be a total of 15 commissioners, with each councilperson appointing three individuals from various grade levels, with two year terms.
Further, re-establishing the Commission will help the City provide additional leadership development opportunities for Norwalk teens and educate them on civic and local government operations.
Councilwoman Margarita Rios added “I am beyond thrilled that we are taking this up again. I believe that we can all benefit in including the commission this year. We need their point of view in these changing times.”
City Council voted unanimously to re-establish the Youth Commission.
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