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2021-12-08 Youth Commission MinutesYouth Commission Meeting Minutes 12/8/2021 Commission Members Present: Owen Lee Sydney Pearson Brooke Rinehimer Samuel Yi Julie Andres Finn Paynich Mariana Yenter Staff Present: Jay Sandstrom I. ROLL CALL & ABSENCES Commission Members Absent: Chelsea Beck Brooke Rinehimer Councilmembers Present: Laura Johnson Chair Owen Lee moved to call the meeting to order at 6:01 PM over Zoom. Audrey read the land acknowledgment statement. Owen Lee moved to elect Sydney Pearson as interim -secretary; Brooke Rinehimer seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Owen Lee moved to approve the agenda. The motion passed unanimously. III. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA ➢ Commission Meeting Minutes of November 10th, 2021 Owen Lee made a motion to approve the minutes of the November 10, 2021 meeting. The motion passed unanimously. ➢ Commission Meeting Minutes of November 17th, 2021 Owen Lee made a motion to approve the minutes of the November 17, 2021 meeting. The motion passed unanimously. IV. PUBLIC COMMENT VIA ZOOM ➢ No public comments ➢ Owen screen shared the EYC Norms padlet ➢ Owen: Prioritize attending meetings and providing advanced notice if not possible. ➢ Jay: Simply put a message in chat saying you can't make it; we won't question it. VI. CONTACTING OTHER YOUTH COMMISSIONS ➢ Owen: Keeping in contact with other city youth commissions could be very helpful. We could even come together to organize statewide projects. Brook has a list of contact information put together. Let's divide that list up and draft emails from our city emails to send to youth commissions. Should we CC Jay in these emails? ➢ Jay: I would like to at least read over these emails first and be CC'ed. ➢ Owen: We should work with Jay then to get these sent out. Does anyone have any ideas for emails to send? ➢ Brook: Just seeing how other youth commissions operate and apply their ideas to our commission could be helpful. We could definitely involve the State Legislature Advisory Council on it. ➢ Jay: Other youth commissions operate very differently. Some other commissions are more focused on, for example, community service. It will be useful to use our resources and get some insight into how these very different commissions operate. ➢ Owen: Would people prefer to go to other commissions' meetings, they come to ours, we take notes on their methods, etc.? Or, we could try to get a bunch of youth commissions together and meet and exchange ideas. We just need to make sure we have clear goals so as to not become disorganized. I'm gonna go in random order and see what you guys are thinking. Aaron? ➢ Aaron: I think going to other youth commissions' calls could be useful so that we can collaborate. ➢ Sam: I agree, going to their meetings would be best. ➢ Sydney: Before we organize any coalition, it would be best to join their calls and meet them. ➢ Finn: Engaging with other youth commissions is a really good idea. ➢ Mara: I think at first we could go to their meetings and they could come to ours, and if we wanted to carry it on, we could organize one big zoom call and get everyone together. ➢ Audrey: I think one big meeting would be great, utilizing the breakout rooms feature. We could then try to schedule separate meetings with them ➢ Brook: I think the process should start out with us emailing them just to see how their structure works, then we could go into each others' meetings. We could create a google doc to share questions for these commissions. ➢ Jay: We should have a list of questions, like Brook said, or some kind of concrete goal. People have limited time. We will be more successful if we gain info first before meeting with their leadership + 1 or 2 representatives. I would caution you about trying to jump into too many zoom meetings. ➢ Owen: I agree, that's a good idea. ➢ Julie: I think there's strength in numbers. It's good to get other perspectives. ➢ Owen: Sounds like we have similar ideas. Join action could be good in the future, but for now I don't think we have the energy or goal to get that started yet. Start with emails and see how they are received. We're pretty ahead of schedule so should we start brainstorming questions? VII. QUESTIONS FOR OTHER YOUTH COMMISSIONS ➢ Owen: I think firstly we should find out what their goals are for the year. ➢ Brook: See if they are more service focused or policy focused and how they achieve their project goals. Do they use our structure or work as a group? How do they maximize efficiency? We may need to take more time outside of youth commission to get our goals fulfilled. ➢ Julie: What committees do they have? Do they differ from ours? ➢ Brook: I'd also suggest asking how much time they spend advising elected officials. What types of interaction they get with department heads. ➢ Owen: Great. Any other question ideas? ➢ Mara: Ask what they are trying to change in their community. ➢ Aaron: How they interact with their community. ➢ Owen: Yes - also, do they face backlash and how do they deal with it? ➢ Sydney: What issues they prioritize - we have four main issues, but it would be good to see what we are missing. ➢ Audrey: How does the Seattle commission connect with the youth of Seattle? We use social media, but I wonder how they do it. ➢ Jay: Agreed. I wonder how they reach such a large area. ➢ Owen: Seeing how they manage it could be very helpful to us too. ➢ Brook: I really like how Tacoma structured their commission. I like how their goals are outlined on their website as well as a description of each committee. I suggest that we implement that this year. ➢ Owen: Yes. We should circle back to that - posting on Instagram and the website. ➢ Brook: Agreed. We should create one contact per committee, unless we want them all to go through Jay. ➢ Jay: I don't think it needs to go entirely through me, though initial communication should. After a while, you guys should take charge. ➢ Owen: We will talk more about that later. Any more questions? ➢ Sydney: Their meeting setup, how they keep them efficient. ➢ Brook: If they use Robert's Rules or another system. What's gonna be the timeline for this? Is it all coming through Jay? ➢ Owen: I think one person should represent each committee. Would anyone like to volunteer for that? ➢ Sydney volunteered. ➢ Owen: Should we send them all our Instagram too? ➢ Jay: Yes. Of course. Also keep in mind, anything you email will be public. Please use the city email so that no public record is requested for your personal email. ➢ Owen: Use your city email! Any other thoughts? Ok, let's move on. Brook moved to add a Questions for Youth Commission and Streeteries Discussion agenda item and shorten the engaging community brainstorm to 15 minutes. Seconded by Owen Lee. Motion passed unanimously. VIII. STREETERIES DISCUSSION ➢ Tent outdoor dining (streeteries) is very controversial. It takes up a lot of parking lot space. They can also be disadvantageous for people who are mobility impaired. ➢ Brook: The main points against them are that they're ugly, they take up parking space, and that they're unused, which is false. ➢ Owen: Do you guys have any thoughts or input on this? ➢ Audrey: What are we exactly talking about? The clear tent dining spaces? ➢ Owen: Yes. ➢ Audrey: And currently people are against it for safety and parking reasons? ➢ Owen: Yes. People are struggling to find parking in downtown Edmonds. ➢ Brook: What are Aaron's thoughts on this, because his parents run Thai Cottage? ➢ Aaron: My parents had it temporarily, but eventually they took them down because it was often raining and had few people eating outside. I don't see it as a big deal. ➢ Audrey: I think they should keep it to maximize their customers and respect the restaurants' point of view. ➢ Finn: I think eating inside is a public safety concern, so I agree with the outdoor dining. ➢ Brook: ADA spaces aren't being taken away, and the city could promote other spaces to park in. In my experience, there's always parking, one just needs to find the spaces. I think the city could do abetter job in mapping out where parking is. Transit is also barely used, which is an easy substitute for parking in downtown Edmonds. ➢ Owen: For sure. I think public transport is very important. ➢ Finn: I think we should say something in support of public transportation as a commission. ➢ Owen: Emphasizing public transportation as youth is important. Also, is anyone here against the streeteries? ➢ Owen: It looks like we are all in support of them then. ➢ Brook: I think publicly supporting the streeteries could lead to a lot of backlash. Some would say we're shortsighted and not considering all facets of the issue. Not sure how we could address them, especially because there was word of a crash in front of one. ➢ Laura: No police report was filed, so "crash" may be an overstatement. ➢ Owen: What do people think about making a statement on the streeteries, since it isn't directly related to us but we are representing youth? ➢ Julie: We should put out a statement. ➢ Finn: I think we should take the chance to give our opinion. ➢ Brook: I would support putting out a statement, but I think many have their minds set on the streeteries already. ➢ Laura: I think this, though a temporary program, really hits at how we want to use our public spaces. I think the issue is bigger than just streeteries - it begs the greater question on if we should rethink our use of public spaces. ➢ Owen: I think that does put it in an environmental context, which does apply to us more. ➢ Finn: I like the environmental angle on this. This kind of ties back to the walkable Edmonds issue - the debate on public space use has been going on for a while. ➢ Brook: With this discussion I think we should re -shift our goal to changing the use of public spaces and how we express that if we want to. ➢ Owen: I think we do need to shift away from cars, but it would be useful to see viewpoints from those with accessibility issues. ➢ Brook: I wonder if there is any record on accessibility issues with streeteries. Jay, any note on that? ➢ Jay: I don't believe there is any record on that. ➢ Owen: Councilmember Johnson, any comments on accessibility issues? ➢ Laura: There has been no reduction of ADA. But for some older residents, walking three blocks is a big issue. I think the parking issue is a longtime downtown Edmonds issue, and the question is how much of the issue is simply growing pains. It's difficult to see how to balance the parking issue to make things accessible for parents of young children, elderly residents, etc. ➢ Jay: Agreed. There are many pieces and perspectives to this puzzle. This is why it's worth talking about. ➢ Owen: I think this would be a great task for the environmental committee to write a statement on and create a project for. I think they should emphasize de-emphasizing cars and making public transit more accessible. In an Instagram post, they should support public transit and recognize that our perspective is one solely representing youth, not the entire city. ➢ Brook: We should also have a post informing people of what the streeteries are to clarify. ➢ Owen: Agreed. Start with an informative post and follow with a post on our perspective. Owen moved to take out the Committees Selection Share -Out Time part of the agenda. Seconded by Brook Roberts. Motion passed unanimously. [CL[HIZ10K9IN: IN: 1*41•I► IiTH LIIf& ILI F-1 COUITA 1 ➢ Owen: I think we should increase emphasis on community service on the Youth Commission. Can we spend the next 8 minutes brainstorming ideas and creating a schedule for volunteering at the food bank? Could we do this at least once a month? ➢ Finn: Yes, great idea. ➢ Audrey: Agreed. ➢ Owen: We will start with the food bank and expand out later. It takes volunteers on Mondays from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. If you have a scheduling conflict, please put it in the chat. This could be a great way to facilitate community involvement. Does anyone prefer Wednesday over Monday? ➢ No response ➢ Owen: OK. We will commit to this, so please let me know if any scheduling conflict comes up. ➢ Audrey: Will we all go once a month or divide into small groups and go weekly? ➢ Owen: I am thinking we will divide small groups up to go on a set Monday of each month. ➢ Brook: Should we avoid creating a quorum on volunteering? ➢ Jay: As long as we are volunteering on our own and not representing the Youth Commission, this will work. The Youth Commission is not the primary reason you are there. ➢ Owen: Great. Onto Instagram introduction posts. ➢ Owen: Please send Instagram introduction posts by this Saturday. Any questions on intro posts? No comments XI. FINAL COMMENTS ➢ Owen: Jay, any final comments? ➢ Jay: I want you to discuss how to approach having a meeting on the 22nd. ➢ Owen: Okay. My thoughts are to cancel it completely, since schoolwork is heavy. ➢ Mara: I think we should have a shortened meeting ➢ Sam: I think we should cancel it. ➢ Jay: How many won't be able to be there at all? Four raised hands ➢ Jay: That's at least four people who won't be able to make it. ➢ Owen: I think we could have a shortened meeting. ➢ Jay: I suggest cancelling it. I don't think many would be available. ➢ Owen: OK. Sounds good. Does that sound good to everyone? Owen moved to cancel the December 22 meeting. Seconded by Brook Roberts. The motion passed unanimously. ➢ Brook: I think doing a youth commission retreat to clarify our priorities could be useful, because there is a large gap between now and the next meeting. Could we organize something like this on either January 26 or 29? ➢ Jay: That is in your guys' hands. ➢ Owen: I think the 29th works better. Does everyone agree? Heads nodding ➢ Owen: Okay. January 29th, three hours. Do we prefer the morning or evening? Brook moved to extend the meeting by five minutes. Seconded by Owen Lee. Motion passed unanimously. ➢ Owen: It seems most prefer the morning. Does 9 AM sound good? And where should we have it? ➢ Brook: I suggest having it online because of the holiday season and the Omicron variant. ➢ Owen: That makes sense. We can do it virtually. Any final comments before we wrap up? XII. ADJOURNMENT Owen Lee adjourned the meeting at 7:32 PM.