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Mayor's youth advisory council members summarize year, urge stronger outreach and local sustainability projects
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Summary
Members of Clayton's Mayor's Youth Advisory Council presented what they learned this year — recommending better communications with students, anti‑idling signage at a school, hydration stations at Shaw Park, and pilot solar initiatives — and the mayor announced the council's mayoral award.
Members of Clayton's Mayor's Youth Advisory Council (MYAC) presented summaries of their year and recommendations during a pre‑meeting ceremony April 8 at Clayton City Hall, thanking city officials and advisers and urging better outreach to younger residents.
The presentations, given by about 18 council members and MYAC interns, covered committee work on equity, parks and recreation, sustainability, planning and architectural review, and the board of aldermen. Junior Dasha Arnold, who followed the equity committee, described conversations with the municipal judge about bench warrants and community‑service orders and how the committee considered fairness and practical barriers to compliance. “The judge…likes to give the person the benefit of the doubt and give them another chance to show up,” Arnold said, describing the committee’s learning about how courts seek to balance enforcement with individual circumstances.
The council members emphasized outreach and practical projects. David Lin and Oliver Mahler, who followed the Sustainability Advisory Committee, said they were assigned an anti‑idling project and are preparing a presentation to the school board proposing anti‑idling signage on school district property; Mahler said, “we're working on a project to install anti idling signage at El Capitan Elementary School.” Spencer Pompeian recommended installing a hydration system at Shaw Park fields 5 and 6 and at the new softball fields to improve water access during youth sports.
Several students described committee work that involved public design and permitting. Violet Edmondson praised the parks and recreation committee’s effort on the Livable Community master plan and urged more in‑person meetings to broaden public participation. Ben Koster and Baron Borich, who served on the planning commission and architectural review board, described attention to stormwater, runoff and building‑site details during review of WashU‑area development and said they were interested in expanding local solar efforts; they noted examples such as “solar windows” for large commercial façades and suggested incentives to encourage adoption.
Students repeatedly asked the board to improve how it publicizes meetings and decisions to young people. Multiple presenters recommended using classroom outreach and Instagram as communications channels; Henry Rosenzweig noted that visible street signage for events helped him notice city activities, while others urged more direct contact with the high school to increase student attendance at civic events.
Mayor Harris and MYAC advisers Jenny Abels and Ms. Keerly were publicly thanked by the students for hosting the program. The mayor announced the mayor’s award recipient for the council year: Ben Koster — the physical award was not yet available at the ceremony and will be presented later.
The MYAC presentations concluded with a group photo and a brief discussion about how the city might partner with the school district to create live events and classroom visits that explain local government functions to students.
