Mayor Benjamin and City of Columbia announce Columbia Youth Commission election
March 25, 2019
Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin and the City of Columbia are relaunching the Columbia Youth Commission program and will hold an election for students in Richland and Lexington counties on May 7.
“Relaunching the Columbia Youth Commission with this special election makes it an incredibly unique, exciting and influential program for young people in our city,” said Mayor Benjamin. “I look forward to the leadership exhibited by our youth through the programming, policies and innovative ideas they bring forth over the next year. It’s imperative for us to not only converse with our youth but to keep them engaged in our governmental processes.”
The Columbia Youth Commission is a program for local students to provide leadership and improve services for youth in the City of Columbia. The group of young leaders will work to bridge the gap between adults and youth, fostering a greater sense of unity, communication and partnership throughout the city.
Over the past few years, the activism and civic engagement in Generation Z (people born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s) has been evident, particularly in movements such as The March for our Lives. To better leverage the energy, ideas and voices of young people in our community, programs like a Youth Commission are not only beneficial but are imperative for cities that want to more intentionally engage with youth and understand their needs as a demographic.
Roles and responsibilities of the Youth Commission will include:
• Commenting on legislation and policies that impact youth
• Creating public service programs that improve the lives of youth
• Monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of youth programs and policies
• Coming up with program evaluation measures that consider aspects of a program that matter most to youth.
• Partnering with other youth organizations on shared issues
• Preparing peers for leadership roles, postsecondary education and career.
The City of Columbia will hold a city and counties-wide (Richland and Lexington) election, similar to how typical municipal and county elections are held. One youth commissioner will be elected from each city district, with three at-large representatives from Richland County and two at-large representatives from Lexington County. There will be a total of nine (9) people on the Youth Commission.
Eligible candidates are students ages 14-18. High school seniors graduating in June 2019 will not be eligible for elected office.
This election will be unique in that all 14-18-year-olds in Richland and Lexington counties will be eligible voters. Youth commissioners will campaign to voters just as an adult candidate for elected office does.
The application for the Youth Commission is open and will close on April 8. The application can be found online at bit.ly/ColaYC2019 (please note the bit.ly is case sensitive).
For information, contact Lauren Harper at [email protected].
