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Council appoints six youth‑council members, asks staff to continue outreach for residents
Summary
The council appointed six Destin Youth Council applicants and asked staff to continue outreach to local schools and return with additional resident applicants within two weeks; the council did not remove the residency quorum requirement at this meeting.
Destin City Council on Aug. 18 appointed six applicants to the Destin Youth Council and directed staff to continue outreach to local schools and youth groups to fill remaining seats. The council also declined to immediately change the youth‑council bylaws on resident quorum requirements, instead asking staff to seek more resident applicants before any bylaw amendment.
Eleven applicants were before the council at the meeting — five identified as city residents and six as non‑residents. The council debated whether to appoint all applicants and amend the bylaws to let non‑residents hold a majority of seats, or to appoint only resident applicants and continue recruitment. Councilman Schmidt moved to appoint all 11 and to direct staff to draft a bylaw amendment removing the residency‑based quorum requirement; Councilman Bagby proposed a substitute approach: appoint the five resident applicants plus a limited number of nonresident appointees now and continue outreach to bring more residents forward.
The council approved the substitute motion: the council appointed the five resident applicants together with one nonresident applicant (six total) and directed staff to continue outreach to area schools and return to council within two weeks with any additional resident applicants. The council asked staff to circulate the membership list to principals and civic leaders and to focus recruitment on Destin residents if possible.
Council members said the goal is to ensure a functioning youth council with a resident majority at meetings while not denying participation to interested youth. “We don’t need more non‑city resident kids; we need to grow the pie,” Councilman Bagby said during debate, while others noted outreach challenges earlier in the summer when schools were out.
Next steps: staff will report back to council with any additional applicants in two weeks and will return with a proposed timetable for appointments and any bylaw changes only after fuller outreach.
