Title
Recommendation to Establish an Alameda Youth Council/Commission. (City Manager 2110)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Eric Levitt, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Ensuring the well-being of the City’s young people is a longstanding priority for the City of Alameda. Alameda is known for its award-winning schools, dynamic recreation programs, and youth sports and activities. Young people in Alameda are our future, and it is important that their viewpoints are taken seriously and play a role in shaping our community.
This year has been unlike no other, and we have seen our youth organize the entire community around issues including racial justice and police reform. Many young people have asked for more ways to become involved with advising the City Council and communicating with staff. Staff recommends establishing an Alameda Youth Council/Commission that would meet this need and help expand the City’s outreach to young people across the island.
BACKGROUND
The City of Alameda established the Alameda Youth Advisory Commission (AYAC) in 2008. The purpose of AYAC was to provide City policymakers with the unique perspective from the community’s youth on municipal issues and matters of concern to young people, to provide a forum for discussion regarding how the City can better serve its youth, and to encourage the participation of youth in local government. Members were nominated by the Mayor and appointed by the City Council. When the AYAC was established, there were eleven regular members and one ex-officio member. In 2011, the AYAC was reduced to seven regular members as part of a restructuring of numerous City Commissions.
In 2014 the AYAC was dissolved. At the time, there was another group, the Alameda Youth Committee, which worked in parallel to the AYAC but met more regularly and had significantly more participation by a broader, more diverse group of young people. In contrast, the Youth Commission had a high vacancy rate and struggled to maintain a quorum, with meetings often canceled as a result. Currently, the City does not staff a Commission or Committee that is appointed by, and advises, the City Council on youth issues and perspectives.
Staff conducted research on neighboring cities and discovered that most have a commission that advises the City Council on youth issues. Here is a look at five nearby cities and the scope of their youth commissions.
Oakland Youth Advisory Commission
Overview: 17 members, meets twice a month with a summer break, ages 13-21
Mission: The Oakland Youth Advisory Commission (OYAC) seeks to improve the lives all of young people in Oakland and strives to represent the youth voice by advocating for the needs of our peers across the city. We believe that young people know what's best for young people and as a unified voice, with the support of Adult Allies, we can and will be heard! We believe that participating in civic engagement at the local level is one of the surest pathways to influence positive lasting change in our community and we are committed to identifying and providing opportunities for youth to better understand and engage in local government.
Berkeley Youth Commission
Overview: 18 members, 10 vacancies, meets monthly with a summer break, ages 12-25, half are junior or high school students
Mission: The Berkeley Youth Commission identifies the needs of youth, reviews and recommends youth services and programs.
San Leandro Youth Advisory Commission
Overview: 21 members, meets twice a month, members are in grades 9-12
Mission: As a reflection of San Leandro's diversity, the Youth Advisory Commission is dedicated to working with the City Council to promote awareness, safety, and involvement among youth. It is our mission to ensure that youth needs and interests are seriously considered in crucial decisions that affect the entire community. To achieve this, the YAC will serve as a link between the City Council and San Leandro's young people by working to build consensus on contemporary issues of importance and to make sure that this consensus is heard.
Hayward Youth Commission
Overview: 30 members, 8 vacancies, meets twice a month, 13-20 year olds
Mission: The Hayward Youth Commission advises the Mayor and City Council, and the elected boards of the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District and Hayward Unified School District about issues that affect young people in the Hayward community. Members may also work on a number of projects and activities throughout the year, e.g., identifying youth needs, organizing youth speakouts and conferences, etc.
Fremont Youth Advisory Commission
Overview: 13 members, meets once a month
Mission: Explores and identifies issues and concerns of special importance to teens and communicates those issues to the City Council. Encourages teen leadership and responsibility through involvement. Creates a forum for the purpose of encouraging public discussion of teen issues; such as, but not limited to, meetings, workshops and conferences.
DISCUSSION
Over the last six months, staff and the Mayor have met with several young people who have been actively engaged in City affairs. These talented young people have advocated for the City to establish a Youth Council/Commission that focuses on making Alameda more equitable and inclusive, racial injustice, gun violence, and gender equality.
Staff recommends the City Council consider whether to establish an Alameda Youth Council/Commission (AYC). If approved, staff would work with youth groups to draft by-laws that include the Council/Commission name, purpose, number of meetings per month, identify the months that the Council/Commission would be on break, numbers of members, and terms of office. Staff would return to the City Council before the end of the year with a draft ordinance that includes these by-laws for approval.
Alameda Youth Council/Commission Sample Structure
• Monthly meetings, with a break in December, June, July, and August.
• 13 members, ages 12 - 21, serving 2-year terms and representing a cross section of the community. Three seats dedicated to middle school students, three seats to high school students, one seat to a resident at the Alameda Point Collaborative, and one seat to a student at the College of Alameda. The remaining five seats at-large.
• Provide an annual report to the City Council and community as well as provide regular guidance on youth issues and offer a youth perspective on City Council priorities.
Following Council approval of the Council/Commission by-laws, staff would conduct outreach and open applications in early 2021, coordinate candidate interviews with the Mayor, and the Mayor could bring nominees to the City Council for their approval in March 2021. The newly appointed Commissioners could work with staff to develop a draft annual workplan at their first meeting.
The Alameda Youth Council/Commission would be staffed by the Public Information Officer and report directly to the City Council.
ALTERNATIVES
• Provide direction and establish an Alameda Youth Council/Commission
• Establish a Youth Committee and pause the establishment of a Commission
• Do not establish a Youth Council/Commission at this time
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Existing resources (staff and budget) would have to be shifted from existing priorities to meet needs of a new commission. While there is no immediate financial impact to provide direction to establish an Alameda Youth Commission, budget and staff time will have to be allocated run the commission. Staff anticipates the need for at least 15 percent of a full-time employee’s time, in addition to administrative support for the Commission, which would come directly from the responsible department to prepare meeting agendas, packets and minutes, and through other offices such as the City Clerk’s Office. The actual budget would be somewhat dependent on the size of the commission. Based on staff capacity, I anticipate that there would need to be added staffing capacity.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action does not affect the Alameda Municipal Code.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is not a project and is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15378 and 15060.
CLIMATE IMPACTS
There are no climate impacts from establishing the Alameda Youth Council/Commission.
RECOMMENDATION
Consideration of the establishment of an Alameda Youth Council/Commission.
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
The City Manager believes a Youth Commission or Youth based Committee would be a positive action by the City Council. The only concern currently is that our staffing capacity is stretched and this would further stretch it. We are currently looking at it to be staffed out of the City Manager’s office if moved forward due to it being a Commission that would be across departments.
I would anticipate that it would be most active during the school year due to my previous experience.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah Henry, Public Information Officer
Amy Wooldridge, Recreation and Parks Director
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Annie To, Finance Director