Councilmembers Bagshaw, Clark, O'brien and I, along with Mayor McGinn, participated in the Seattle Youth Commission's spring Town Hall forum at the Vera Project at Seattle Center Saturday afternoon.
Nearly 200 young people from across Seattle participated. Earlier this year, through legislation I developed, the Council established the Youth Commission in order to give youth a stronger voice at City Hall. Our dialog yesterday covered climate change, the recently enacted tax on bottled water, how many police officers work in the city, the quality of school lunches, the new neighborhood-based school assignment plan, how much the Mayor is paid, budget cuts that may force closure of community centers or libraries, and safety on Metro buses. The Commission has recently proposed two new city efforts designed to help young fathers with parenting skills and to improve dialog and understanding between youth and the police.