Council appoints students to city panels
by Garrett AndrewsHerald Staff Writer
Article Last Updated; Tuesday, October 05, 2010 12:00AM
The Durango City Council voted to approve a number of appointments to the first Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission last week. The local students will be recognized at tonight's City Council meeting.
Twenty-three students applied for seats on the seven-member commission. During their interviews with city councilors, students also were asked if they would serve as non-voting members of a different city board or commission if they weren't among the seven selected.
The commission will meet for the first time at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at City Hall. Meetings will be held on the first and third Thursdays of the month for the remainder of the school year.
Durango's mayor will serve as council liaison and unofficial head of the commission.
"In some ways, we're making this up as we go," said Mayor Michael Rendon. "We want the kids to have as much power as possible, but we've also never done this before. So we'll see how it goes."
Rendon said the plan for the first meeting is for the students to identify important issues to take on, "and then take it from there."
One likely topic is youth outreach at City Hall, Rendon said.
"We had some awesome applicants. They're really the standouts in this community," Rendon said.
The council voted to appoint the following students to the Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission:
•Nathan Youssef, sophomore, Animas High School.
•Sarah Ford, senior, Durango High School.
•Zoe Schultz, junior, Durango High School.
•Amber Kairalla, junior, Grace Preparatory Academy.
•Claire Ochsner, junior, Durango High School.
•Alden Derck, senior, Durango High School.
•Ruthie Edd, junior, Durango High School.
•Dale Ramirez, freshman, Durango High School (alternate).
•Sam Kuenzel, freshman, Animas High School (alternate).
The following students were selected to serve as youth advisory members on other city boards and commissions:
•Airport Commission - Zane Kekoa Bilgrav, senior, Grace Preparatory Academy.
•Business Improvement District - Christian Vigil, junior, Durango High School.
•Natural Lands Board - Kari Bjorlin, senior, Durango High School.
•Library Advisory Board - Aiyana Anderson, sophomore, Animas High School.
•Public Art Commission - Maggie Harmon, freshman, Grace Preparatory Academy.
•Parks and Recreation Advisory Board - Carson Leavitt, senior, home school.
gandrews@durangoherald.com
