Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
What if a high school student’s senior project was to serve on the local city council?
Under an idea being proposed in Palouse, a version of that may happen as soon as next year.
The position would be called a student council advisory post and the details of it would have to be determined.
Council member Connie Newman brought up the idea at the last council meeting, April 9.
“I personally would recommend the student could sit at the table and advise and give their suggestions the same way a council member could,” said Newman.
The Palouse City Council is now looking to fill an interim position which ends in December, following the resignation of Councilman Cecil Floyd.
Newman said she would ask the council to approve a resolution Tuesday night.
The resolution would allow a student to fill Floyd’s seat.
“My idea is that the position would end in December,” said Newman, who indicated she would recommend that the student be appointed to a committee, and she would volunteer to mentor the student.
“I’m looking for as much opportunity for the student to participate as possible,” she said.
Newman first began to think about this idea after attending an Association of Washington Cities (AWC) conference last summer.
Several Washington cities have established programs for students in government, including positions on city boards and commissions, while a few have done it for city councils, such as Sequim, Edmonds and Sultan.
These arrangements all require the person to be 18, which brings up a potential problem for a Palouse student doing a senior project, since many are still 17 through the first semester of their senior year.
Newman suggested that a resolution could allow for a non-voting age student council advisory position.
“I don’t know about the logistics yet of how you’d do it,” said Mayor Michael Echanove. “But I think it’s awesome. I’ve read a great deal of data that one way to keep a community revitalized or fresh is to have youth involved in municipal activities.”
The council’s open interim position was posted Feb. 27 and an applicant came forward late last week.
If ultimately no one applies after another 90 days, the council as a group appoints someone.
“The spirit of the law is the council replacing one of their own,” said Echanove, who has been on the Palouse City Council as a representative or mayor for the past 19 years.
“We’ll find some folks,” he said. “I’ll go knock on doors, it’s never occurred before that no one has come forward.”
“If we can’t get a community member at large, why not see if we can get a student?” said Newman. “I find our youth in our community to be incredibly intelligent and introspective. I truly believe that this program would be a great benefit to our town and our council.”
The school indicates support as well.
“Oh yeah, you bet,” said Noel Akin, senior project advisor at Gar-Pal High School. “If we could make something like that work, any kind of government experience would be wonderful for the kids.”
In Newman’s senior year of high school, 1984-85, she served as a student representative to the community center.
“I personally found that to be a valuable experience for myself, and they welcomed me,” Newman said.
There may be other benefits to serving, if a student is interested.
The Association of Washington Cities awards college scholarship money each year, with the requirement that applicants have experience working with city government.
“My objective is for this to be a pilot program that I would hope to continue,” said Newman, who is the chairperson of the water and sewer committee and a member of the streets and sidewalks committee.
The student would likely help in research, legwork and other areas.
An actual, legal member of a city council in Washington is required to be 18 years of age.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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