A Call for a Puyallup Youth Council – Jeff for Puyallup City Council
Puyallup needs a strong vision for the future, and the future of our city lies in its youth. It is essential that we not only ‘invest’ in the youth- funding schools, increasing public safety, and advocating for student mental health- it is also essential that we empower them.
One of Puyallup’s missions as a city is to give its youth the tools they need to succeed. When children have community infrastructure, good role models and opportunities to exercise leadership, they will become strong and capable adults and that will pay dividends to the city at large. In addition to that, the high school youth of today grew up during a global pandemic, a recession, and a world seemingly spinning faster by the day. It is only fair that they have some input over how Puyallup conducts the affairs that concern them, even if they can’t vote quite yet.
This is why it is my proposal that we enact our own Puyallup City Youth Council. It is my number one priority for the youth of Puyallup that we allow every student in a Puyallup high school to join a council that will work in tandem with the City Council on representation and policy.
This council will serve three main purposes:
- Inform City leaders how students across Puyallup schools are doing, reporting on various problems and priorities amongst young leaders.
- Give students the opportunity to sit on local boards and commissions, in a voting or non-voting role, to allow student input on how city initiatives are created and implemented.
- Give students various opportunities for leadership: connection to municipal government, volunteer opportunities in city events, and creation of special projects that the Council will work on together.
This proposal is inspired by a Youth Council that the City of Lakewood has implemented with great success. The Lakewood Youth Council has existed for over a decade now and has seen many successful projects like the Lakewood Youth Summit, an event that students have hosted in past years that brings students from all across the community together to host guest speakers, local vendors for games, art, and job opportunities, and workshops for cultivating professional skills. They can sit on commissions like the Arts Commission, where they have real influence on how Lakewood beautifies their city.
My wife, Shannon, who works in Human Services with the City of Lakewood has been leading their Youth Council since 2021 and has seen this program grow substantially, with incredible young people ready to make a change in their city. She and I agree that it is time to bring some of that success back home, and create our own Youth Council. Ours will be different and done in our own Puyallup way, but will involve feedback from our residents and the agendas and minutes of each meeting will always be available to the public. It is time to hand the reins to the people who know how to get things done- our young people.
Let’s bring the Youth Council to Puyallup, so the future can flourish. #JeffForPuyallup
Jeff Bennett for Puyallup City Council 
Leave a comment