High school students play council for a day

Christine Carrillo

City Council chambers didn’t look quite the same Thursday morning as

students from several high schools filled the roles of city

officials.

For more than 20 years, the city of Newport Beach Recreation and

Senior Services Department Youth Council has held the City Government

Day event, giving high school students a behind-the-scenes look at

how city government functions.

“I think it’s just giving young people a little knowledge about

how their local government functions, and hopefully it’s mimicking

some of the peripheral issues that might not be relatively apparent

to them,” said City Manager Homer Bludau, who also hopes it might

inspire some of them to seek out a career in public service. “Some of

these issues are more complex. It makes them stop and think, and

that’s a good thing.”

Kicking off their walk in city officials’ shoes, the 32 students

-- from Newport Harbor, Corona del Mar, Back Bay, Sage Hill, Orange

Coast Middle College and Mater Dei high schools -- were welcomed by

Mayor Steve Bromberg, Bludau and other city officials before getting

paired with each of them to discuss the role of their new jobs and

how it relates to each issue.

“It’s a great opportunity for the students to get a real life

experience of how government works,” said Sean Levin, recreation

manager and youth council advisor. “It’s practical. ... In this half

a day, you get a real good taste of how city government works.”

After an hour and a half of preparation, the mock city council

meeting began.

The first order of business was to vote for a mayor. Aaron Israel

from Newport Harbor got the nod, and Juliane Caillouette from Sage

Hill was named mayor pro tem.

Following the agenda, the students brought each item to the floor,

opened it up for public comment, and sometimes staff comment, and

closed each item with a vote, which wasn’t always unanimous.

Actual city issues like water quality and city tree ordinances hit

the floor and lured community members to the lectern.

“I have supported several of you in campaign contributions and I

expect your support on this,” said Bludau, acting as an agitated

restaurant owner addressing the council.

While the students sought advice and guidance from their official

counterparts, many of them jumped into the fantasy affair with full

force.

“It’s a really good program,” Caillouette said. “After today,

we’ve really learned a lot about how city government functions, which

will at least help us be better citizens.”