A city staff member welcomed Emal and Manasseh, members of the Kirkland Youth Council, to a recent meeting to discuss the council’s 2024 activities and plans for 2025. The youth council described organizing a Kirkland Youth Summit that centered on school safety and mental health, and said they are working on an “issues” video to show how a resident complaint moves through city processes.

The summit brought together teens from multiple middle and high schools across Kirkland to discuss community concerns, Emal said. “I think it was great that we were able to organize that and be able to get that feedback from our community,” Emal added. The summit’s theme, he said, was school safety and mental health and participants identified topics they wanted to work on.

Manasseh said he and other council members have continued in-depth discussions during regular meetings and noted the council is operating with a record number of participants. “We have like a record number of people in our council here and just being able to still have those same, like, in-depth discussions that we always do is something to be really proud of,” Manasseh said.

Looking ahead to 2025, council members described a planned outreach video the group calls an “issues” video. The video will explain — for teenagers and other residents — what happens after someone files a complaint with the city and how that complaint moves through city departments. Manasseh and Emal said the first planned episode will use a traffic-related complaint as an example.

Discussion at the meeting was brief and informational; no formal actions, motions, or votes were recorded on the topic. The staff member thanked the youth council members for their work and said she looks forward to seeing the council’s projects in the coming year.