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Council member Shepherd seeks required youth seats on district advisory boards
Summary
Council Member Shepherd told city staff he intends the proposal to create a youth seat (ages 16–18) on district advisory boards to be mandatory rather than optional; staff said the draft language is permissive and leaves appointment decisions to individual council members. Shepherd said he will work with city attorneys before the June 9 meeting.
Council Member Shepherd pushed city staff to clarify language that would create a youth representative slot on district advisory boards, saying he intends the council to require a designated seat for 16- to 18-year-olds rather than merely encourage it.
"My intent with this is to ensure that young people ages 16 through 18 have a designated seat on the district advisory boards, and they are given the opportunity to vote on this recommended body board just as everyone else," Shepherd said.
Staff responding to Shepherd said the draft as written does not change membership rules for the district advisory boards. "As we have it structured is this is not changing the membership of the district advisory boards. It is just encouraging or allowing 1 of those positions to be the youth voice that, each individual council member can choose how you do the appointment," a staff member said. The staff member added the structure gives council members flexibility on how to represent youth voices and that the council would need to decide whether to make the slot formal.
Shepherd said he worked with city counsel to craft the item and will continue to refine the language. "I know that I, worked with Jennifer or attorney Magana to present this," he said, and added he would "read through the policy and make sure that I'm understanding it correctly" before the June 9 meeting.
Why it matters: a required youth seat would change who sits on district advisory boards and give a voting role to a 16–18-year-old representative, potentially amplifying youth perspectives on zoning, housing and neighborhood issues. Staff described the current draft as permissive; Shepherd reiterated he will press to codify the seat as required.
Next steps: Shepherd said he will follow up with staff and the city attorney before Tuesday’s meeting to resolve whether the seat will be mandatory or optional. The manager closed his preview of the June 9 agenda following the exchange.
