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TEENS TAKE CHARGE
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Photo by Geoffrey Hauschild
3rd Ward Councilman, Mario Leone, age 17 of Boardman raises his hand in order to speak during a mock city council meeting at the Youngstown City Council Chambers on Wednesday. High school juniors from thirty local schools participated in the event coordinated by the Youth Leadership Mahoning Valley program.
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Photo by Geoffrey Hauschild
2nd Ward Councilwoman Leah Kook, age 16 of JFK High School, speaks about a proposed teen center during a mock city council meeting at the Youngstown City Council Chambers on Wednesday. High school juniors from thirty local schools participated in the event coordinated by the Youth Leadership Mahoning Valley program.
By KATIE SEMINARA
Valley students debate in mock council meeting in real setting
Dressed in a suit and tie with an American flag pin on his collar, Evan Beil was ready to play his role as the mayor of Youngstown.
He got his shot as the city’s chief executive during a mock council meeting.
The 17-year-old from Boardman High School looked the part and said previous school programs, such as the speech and debate team, prepared him for the event.
“I’m considering running for public office,” said Beil.
About 50 Youth Leadership Mahoning Valley students, representing 30 schools in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, gathered in Youngstown City Council Chambers for the mock session Wednesday.
Youth Leadership Mahoning Valley is a program designed to involve high school sophomores and juniors who have demonstrated leadership qualities in various educational activities during a five-month period, said Karen Stacey, executive director.
The mock meeting primarily focused on the possibility of a teen center being built in the city. The mayor’s argument was that the center would help keep youths off the streets and help increase high school graduation rates.
“Youngstown needs teens to one day help the economy; they’re the future,” said Mayor Beil.
“By not supporting the teen center, you obviously don’t care about Youngstown’s future,” he said, addressing the council members.
The majority of the council members strongly opposed the mayor’s idea of a teen center in the area. They vocalized concerns about funding the center, operation of the center and how it would pertain to high school graduation rates.
“You say the youth is the future, but are you OK with potentially leaving them with debt?” asked 6th Ward Councilman Joe Charnas, 16, of Lakeview High School.
The proposed cost of the teen center would range from $500,000 to $1 million, said Mayor Beil.
“I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to do what’s best for the city and county,” he said while standing behind the idea of a teen center that would encourage youth to lead successful lives.
But in reality, Beil was among friends and fellow future leaders who played the roles of area residents, news media, council members and city officials.
Citizen Dominique Zordich, 17, of Cardinal Mooney High School, raised the point that graduation rates won’t change simply because a teen center is established. Hilary Carr, 16, of Mineral Ridge High School, was also participating as a concerned resident and proposed the idea of creating a small teen center to start, then expanding the center based on its success.
Both Zordich and Carr agreed that the mock meeting was beneficial because it showed them the process of local government and encouraged them to get involved in their cities.
“Everyone voiced their own opinions and supported those opinions,” said Zordich, of what she thought was most productive.
Leah Kook, 16, of Warren John F. Kennedy High School, played the 2nd Ward councilwoman and said she thought the mock meeting was “really interesting.”
“A lot goes into each decision and then those decisions lead to more decisions,” said Kook, who was very vocal in her role.
The students had the assistance of three real Youngstown council members: Annie Gillam, D-1st; Carol Rimedio-Righetti, D-4th; and John Swierz, D-7th.
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Comments
Did the students realize the ultimate secrets though?:
- Always have a D after your name
- Always vote yes on a payraise for yourself
- Always blame someone else for the city's problems
- Always make sure you get re-elected, no matter what the consequences
- Always raise taxes in the midst of problems
- Always make sure you maximize your expense account
- Always use taxpayer money to take unnecessary trips
- Always leave something to deal with at the next meeting so it looks like you are doing something
These secrets will keep you employed as a council member indefinitely.
exactly! and did these teens also come to an agreement to ALWAYS agree with the mayor on everything? did they agree that blowing smoke up the our asses will keep you in office? how about having a neighborhood cleanup in your ward (1st), announce it 2 weeks ahead of time, and yet, the council member no shows? hey, how about making sure you shine, shuck, and jive, and look like the uncle toms you are for the media? how about having a citizen in your ward (2nd) howl to the moon about an abandoned house on your street, and how you want it torn down, or at least have the property kept up, and your idiot councilman shows up, lies to your face, and to the media, then an anonymous donor come thru and gives you money to keep it up, and then, a local group, that broke up because of no help from council, or city hall, comes thur to help? shall i continue? city council people are overpaid, useless, and incompetent!
Only time I saw a smile like that at a city council meeting is when they are giving themselves a pay raise. (pretty girl though)
Hope a few Republicans were amongst the group!
once again it shows how clueless people are esp when they do not have the complete facts in front of them. there is a teen center in ytown on the southside of town called the boys and girls club. the mayor should have expanded his idea about using the b/g club by using half of the requested amount to encourage more participation at the club for after school programs, social programs and community orientated programs. the real life council reps in attendance should have told him this before he proposed this scheme in front of the mock council reps. could it be in real life these said council reps do not communicate with each other in their personal/political life with each other by allowing the mock mayor proposed this idea with some true to life facts about the city.
They needed to sugar coat the meeting so the kids could come away from this with a positive attitude. Had they been informed of the facts the would be making a b-line out of this area.
It did what it was intended-got some positive (for a change) PR for the city, gave the students hope that if they did get into politics they could make a difference, and totally glazed over the corruption that goes on behind closed doors.
i think these kids might do a better job than the real council! LOL lets give them a shot! LOL
Dont you worry... I was there and I am a strong conservative... so at least im smarter then the entire city council.
I asked Mayor Williams that i had heard he was running as a democrat in 2010 and he said yes he is and has always been a democrat... and i followed up "didnt you run as an independent" and he said yes but he still has democratic beliefs... He only said he was independent in 2006 because he knew a bankteller could not win a big time election as a democrat in youngstown and he would not get the parties nomination... the only reason he is in is because he is black
diehard conservative... contact me!
I was the 3rd Ward councilman in this exercise, and unfortunately the paper ignored my fiscally conservative viewpoints against the Teen Center, among which were saying that Youngstown is already one of the highest taxed cities in the state and that youngstown already has these activity centers. Of course, I'm sure people thought I was against the children if they published this, but this is why Democrats have a stranglehold on this area. The local media gives them such a free pass. The councilmen and women were all Democrats and it was easy to see why the city is in such poor fiscal shape when it raises taxes to build gimmick centers like this, all with the desire to "raise test scores" and end violence. Better parenting, not money, is the solution to Youngstown's problems. Government can only go so far. I'm a proud libertarian-conservative and will hope to see the day when this area prospers again by following conservative principles.
Why do we [the City of Youngstown] have 7 council positions? Couldn't we do it with less? How do we start this game plan in motion?
One city, one mayor, one councilperson,one person to oversee the mayor and councilperson. This city has dwindled so much the wards can be consolidated. If the entire city abidid by the same agenda maybe it would be able to get something going.
The dope dealers now rule the streets. Has anyone got permission from them for a teen center?
I don't think they post here...maybe when they learn to read and write.BUT they can count when they sell their product!