For Pinellas, a fresh point of view

The Youth Advisory Committee will discuss how County Commission decisions affect young people.

By MONIQUE FIELDS

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 8, 2001

The Pinellas County Board of Commissioners will soon receive advice every month from a group of constituents too young to vote.

Two or three at a time, students from across the county quietly filed into the County Commission's chambers Wednesday. They arrived for the first meeting of the Pinellas County Youth Advisory Committee after attending a day's worth of classes.

All have school leadership skills and said they came because they are interested in government. Many turned in one-page resumes. At least one, a boy who showed up in a coat and tie, wants to run for office.

So far, they have been quite an efficient panel.

In their first meeting, four people nominated themselves for office and gave cursory three-minute speeches about their qualifications. In 15 minutes flat, they elected three officers -- all females. Sheena Lofton, a senior at Clearwater High School, was elected as chairwoman. Heather Samuelson, a junior at Palm Harbor University High School, will serve as vice chairwoman. Julia Stenzel, a junior at Seminole High School, will be the committee's secretary.

Committee members said they came with open minds and general ideas.

"I just want to bring an honest representation of youth in this area," said Court Whelan, a senior at Palm Harbor University High School. "By masking problems or saying something that isn't true, it makes the whole process more complicated."

Their membership profiles also revealed they are concerned with the decay of public interest in government, the generation gap and ways to help youth walking the wrong path.

They will meet once a month and discuss how the commission's decisions affect Pinellas County's youngest residents.

The new committee is the brainchild of Pinellas County Commission Chairman Calvin Harris.

"I think we're missing the very fabric of what makes a community livable for young people," Harris said. Later he added, "The more we can involve kids, I think the better we will be."

Each county commissioner appointed one member to the 19-member committee. The others were appointed by Youth Mapping, the Juvenile Welfare Board, Youth As Resources and the 4-H Teen Council. Two other youth organizations also have promised to recommend students for the panel.

Harris believes it's the first youth panel to advise the commission, but it's not a new concept. The St. Petersburg City Council briefly had such a group about five years ago, but the city had trouble attracting students, said Terri Scott, an administrative services officer.

Transportation problems as well as conflicts with students' after-school schedules stymied the group, she said. Still, St. Petersburg council members are expected to decide later this month whether they will give it another try, she said.

Scott says a youth council can be an asset as long as the young people set their own agenda. That's exactly what Pinellas County commissioners plan to allow.

"We're not going to sit on them and tell them how to think or what to do," Harris said. Harris said he won't be surprised by their thoughts or recommendations.

The students, meanwhile, say they are ready to work.

Just minutes after Lofton was elected chairwoman of the committee, several students pulled her aside and "talked about the (county's) budget, how it works and how it was distributed," she said.

The group will have its next meeting on Feb. 20 and won't shy away from tough issues. Its first order of business? A discussion about the county's need to cut $162-million from Penny for Pinellas sales tax-funded projects.

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