Community Services Department
DATE: May 16, 2023
TO: Council Youth Services Committee
FROM: Lauren Eck, Recreation Coordinator
Greg Milano, Recreation Supervisor
SUBJECT: Youth Advisory Committee Applicant Selection and Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION
Forward a recommendation to the City Council to approve the reappoint eight current Youth Advisory Committee members and to appoint seven new members as well as 10 members-at- large to the Youth Advisory Committee for the 2023-24 term.
BACKGROUND
On September 11, 2007, the City Council approved Resolution No. 17235 establishing the Youth Advisory Committee (YAC). The resolution states the YAC consists of a combined maximum of 15 middle school and high school students that are Mountain View residents. The YAC members are selected through an application and interview process facilitated by the Community Services Department—Recreation Division and appointed by the City Council.
ANALYSIS
On June 14, 2022, the City Council appointed 15 members to the YAC for the 2022-23 term. Of the 15 members, 10 are eligible for reappointment and five are graduating from high school, making them no longer eligible for the 2023-24 term. Two current members chose not to reapply for another term.
Staff requests the Council Youth Services Committee (CYSC) consider the following eight returning YAC members as candidates for reappointment:
• Amy Galindo, eighth grader at The Girl’s Middle School • Jade Tissera, sophomore at Mountain View High School
• Jasleen Sidhu, junior at Los Altos High School
• Meital Zayats, seventh grader at Graham Middle School • Natalie Chan, sophomore at Saint Francis High School
• Nolan Murphy, junior at Woodside Priory High School
Attachment 1
Youth Advisory Committee Applicant Selection and Recommendation May 16, 2023
• Ryan Wang, junior at Los Altos High School
• Simon Braun, junior at Pinewood School
Earlier this spring, Recreation Division staff recruited stu dents to apply for the 2023-24 term.
Recruitment efforts included making virtual school announcements, delivering applications to local schools, talking to students at career fairs, posting applications on the YAC web page and The View Teen Center , a recruitment ad in the Activity Guide, postings to the Mountain View Recreation Division and The View Teen Center social media accounts, and emailing applications directly to school staff to share with students . A total of 32 applications representing students from 14 different schools were received for the 15 available spots.
Staff conducted in-person interviews in early April and requests the CYSC consider the following seven new candidates for appointment:
• Ariana Motaghiannezam, sophomore at Los Altos High School • Jayan Nair, seventh grader at Blach Intermediate School • Kaitlyn Byon, eighth grader at Bullis Charter School
• Leilani Montano, seventh grader at Graham Middle School (current member-at-large) • Ryan Jhin, eighth grader at Challenger School
• Taylor Luna, sophomore at Mountain View High School
• Victoria Ma, freshman at The Harker School
Each of these applicants effectively articulate d their desire to be a member of the YAC , communicated how they may contribute to the overall goals of the YAC, and showed commitment to the 2023-24 term.
In addition to the staff recommendation of 15 candidates for appointment, staff requests that the CYSC recommend the following 10 candidates be named as members-at-large. Members- at-large receive ongoing YAC communications, an invitation to attend meetings as a nonvoting public participant, and opportunities to volunteer at YAC- and City-sponsored special events.
• Jiwoo Oh, freshman at Castilleja School
• Kaelyn Tan, eighth grader at Miller Middle School
• Kavya Wazhi, freshman at Mountain View High School
• Maya Sriram, junior at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley (current member-at-large) • Naisha John, sophomore at Mountain View High School
• Nico Martinez, sophomore at Los Altos High School
• Noah Beedon, junior at Los Altos High School
• Sarp Akalin, seventh grader at Bullis Charter School
• Shahana Rajasekaran, freshman at Los Altos High School (current member-at-large) • Sophia Lew, freshman at Mountain View High School
Youth Advisory Committee Applicant Selection and Recommendation May 16, 2023
Based upon the interview process and the limited number of positions available, seven of the 32 applicants were not forwarded for appointment at this time.
NEXT STEPS
Following CYSC consideration and recommendation, staff will forward the list of recommended candidates to the City Council for formal appointment at the June 13, 2023 City Council meeting.
LE-GM/8/CSD
256-05-16-23M