Pinch yourselves, parents: A group of San Benito High School
students put personal interest aside and voted unanimously to keep
the city’s curfew laws intact Monday morning while participating in
a mock city council meeting.
Hollister – Pinch yourselves, parents: A group of San Benito High School students put personal interest aside and voted unanimously to keep the city’s curfew laws intact Monday morning while participating in a mock city council meeting.
Granted, their decision wouldn’t have had any direct effect on the actual curfew law either way, but it does speak volumes about what they learned during Monday’s Youth in Government Day at City Hall.
“I actually might start coming to City Council meetings. Now I know what it’s like to be the one sitting up here sweating,” said Magali Ferare, who spent the day in the shoes of City Attorney Elaine Cass.
Ferare was one of 12 SBHS students to take part in Monday’s Youth in Government Day, which paired individual students up with city staff mentors to learn about different facets of the community, then put them through a mock city council meeting that was televised on CMAP just like the real deal.
The students kicked off the day by discussing personal community concerns with city staff members. Then staff such as City Manager Clint Quilter, Police Chief Jeff Miller and Redevelopment Agency Director Bill Avera each took one student aside to tell them how their particular agencies would be involved in the issues. And by 10:45 that morning, the kids were ready to give local government a whirl.
High school senior and Mayor-for-the-day Katie Corotto first called stand-in Police Chief Jonathan Crepeau to the podium to discuss the city’s current curfew laws for minors. Under the tutelage of Hollister Police Chief Miller, the high school junior explained to the mock council that the 10pm school night/ 11pm weekend curfew for anyone under 18 protects them from the drug dealers and gang members one might find on the streets late at night. Crepeau then answered questions from the five-student mock council, such as how many curfew arrests are made each year and what the consequences are, winning an approving smile from his mentor for the day.
Other issues the kids tackled included the construction of a youth center in Hollister and the closure of Nash Road during school hours. They voted unanimously to allot 35,000-50,000 fictional dollars from the general fund to establish a youth center at the old Fremont school after instructing would-be Community Services Director Crystina Osborne to look into state grants for the project, then voted to table the Nash Road closure for another council meeting. The students, just like real local leaders, even kept their city attorney on her toes by calling for a closed-session meeting that would have violated the state’s Brown Act.
“Actually, this doesn’t relate to any anticipated litigation,” Magali Ferare told the council when classmate Travis Antoniono suggested they discuss the Nash Road closure in closed-session.
“She was not scripted,” City Attorney Cass said the following day of Ferare’s legal advice to the council. “Before the meeting there was about an hour of preparation and (City Clerk) Geri Johnson and I discussed the rules of the city council, the roles of the city clerk and the city attorney. We talked about the ordinance codes, regulations and business, what an agenda looks like, what can be discussed in closed-session. And she (Ferare) was able to advise the council without having a script in front of her.”
Cass called the day’s student participants “very bright and self-possessed” and complimented them for coming up with an agenda and running a meeting all on their own.
The students in Monday’s program did not receive school credit for participating, and said they had all jumped at the chance to get involved with local government. Several signed up for the activities voluntarily through the Interact club at SBHS, others said they registered on a sign-up sheet at lunch one day on campus.
Five other students joined the San Benito County Board of Supervisors Tuesday morning for a look at politics on the county level, though did not have the opportunity to create an agenda and vote on county issues.
The mock council meeting aired live on Monday morning and will begin airing again next week on channel 17, though the times have not yet been set.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
