Ogden City Youth Council updates bylaws, outlines tours and service projects

City staff and members of the Ogden City Youth Council presented proposed amendments to bylaws and described plans for tours, service projects and recruitment.

Communications Director (Speaker 2) said the changes are minor and intended to simplify titles from "chairperson" and "vice chairperson" to "chair" and "vice chair." He described an amendment to streamline elections: if a single youth applies for a leadership position, that student would be assigned the role and removed from consideration for other positions.

Alaya Salgado, the youth council chair, described planned tours for the coming year including the water treatment plant and Union Station and said the program aims to expose students to city operations and careers. "It has exceeded my expectations," Alaya said, describing her experience with the council.

Service and social officers discussed holiday meal distributions, hygiene-kit drives and team-building activities. Staff reported current membership of 13 students (nine from Ogden High, two from Ben Lomond, one from New Aims and one from Venture Academy) and council members suggested peer-to-peer recruitment and school-district outreach to expand enrollment.

Council members offered support: one suggested the youth council present to the school board to help raise awareness and others volunteered to write recommendation letters. Staff said they will continue youth-driven outreach and will bring additional recruitment ideas back to the council.

Next steps: staff will continue outreach, finalize the bylaw text, and return with any additional support requests from the council.