To connect with your Youth Council representatives- log on and be a friend of the Mayor’s Youth Council at myspace.com/burlesonyouth Mayor's Burleson Youth Council Website Nominations and Applications for the Mayor's Youth Council Burleson Youth Corps Application	For more information about the Mayor’s Youth Council or Burleson Youth Corps, please contact Kellye Cunningham at 817-426-9682or email burlesonyouth@burlesontx.com.

Thirteen make history as City’s first Mayor’s Youth Council

 

On Jan. 24, 2008, thirteen youth from Burleson became part of the City’s first-ever Mayor’s Youth Council.

The members, ranging in age from 13 to 19, are from Burleson High School, Crossroads High School, and the middle schools.  The appointees include Amanda Granato, Amanda Werley, Andra Ancy, Brushea Daniels, Caitlan Smelley, Donnie Allan, James Owen, Kalyn Daily, Katie Frisk, Matt Bruce, Matt Smith, Rachel Ball, and Samuel Graf.

The Mayor’s Youth Council was created May 10, 2007, via a resolution. The mayor and city council members realized the need for input from an often underrepresented part of the community.  More than one-third of the City of Burleson’s population is under the age of 18.

The youth were nominated by teachers, parents, principals, pastors, and neighbors from the community.  A volunteer committee reviewed the nominations and chose the 13 voting youth council members.  The city council officially appointed the council in January.

These students are charged with establishing the by-laws, formalizing the youth council’s structure, identifying the key issues facing Burleson teens, and advising the city council on teen-related matters and other activities and projects as decided by the city council and the youth council.

For more information, log on to the City of Burleson web site at www.burlesontx.com.

 

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October 19, 2007

The mayor is looking for a few good youth to serve on the City of Burleson’s first Mayor’s Youth Council

Mayor Ken Shetter needs adults who are plugged into the teen scene because nominations for the youth council must originate with an adult who lives or works inside the city limits.

The Mayor’s Youth Council will include 15 voting members, all of whom must live inside Burleson’s city limits. Thirteen of those council members will be between the ages of 13 and 19. The youth on the council will serve two-year terms.

The focus of the Mayor’s Youth Council is to study, investigate, plan, implement, and advise the City of Burleson staff and city council on issues that affect the youth. Youth council members will be expected to develop policies, programs, and services to empower, support, and inform youth, create a family-friendly community, and encourage youth to be productive and proactive members of the community. Activities will include youth summits, neighborhood meetings, building partnerships, and carrying out directives from the mayor, city council, and City staff.

Adults may nominate any youth who lives in Burleson and attends a secondary school (middle school, high school, alternative school); home-schooled students; students who have finished school but are not yet 19 years old; and students who have dropped out of school.

The mayor is looking for youth who will represent a diverse spectrum in regard to ideas, backgrounds, and experiences. No one who has been convicted of a crime against a minor child is eligible for the Mayor’s Youth Council. Nominees must consent to a background check.

All nominations for the Mayor’s Youth Council will be done online at the City of Burleson web site.. See instructions below. The deadline for nominations for youth members who are between 13 and 19 years old is Friday, Nov. 16.

The other two voting members on the youth council include one counselor or educator from an independent school district and one representative from a non-profit community youth advocacy organization or program. The adults must also live within the city limits of Burleson.

Non-voting members of the council will include the mayor, one Burleson City Council  member, one member of the school board from the Burleson Independent School District and from the Joshua Independent School District, one City of Burleson staff member who will be appointed by the city manager, and one staff member from one of the two school districts.

For more information about the Mayor’s Youth Council, call Kellye Cunningham, management assistant for the City of Burleson, at 817-447-5400, ext. 245, or e-mail kcunningham@burlesontx.com.