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Teen council still meets amid raging controversy
Commission is business as usual at second meeting
By GEORGE MOORE
Amid the controversy brewing at Cupertino City Hall about the selection process of its new teen commission, the commission's members went about their business.
The bi-monthly meeting was held on Nov. 16 at Wilson Park in Cupertino, the chosen venue for the two-hour meetings. The commission's first meeting took place at the Quinlan Center Nov. 2 and included a swearing-in ceremony by Mayor Sandra James.
During the meeting, staff liaison Christine Hanel talked about the city council's selection process controversy and the fact that it would be discussed at the Nov. 19 council meeting. She urged the members to attend the meeting, but said she wanted them to know what to expect. The meeting turned out to be especially contentious.
Council member Michael Chang wrote an open letter to the council about concerns he had with the selection process. One of the concerns Chang raised was the exclusion of the city staff rankings of the applicants based on their applications. He has argued that selecting commissioners based on a two-minute statement from the applicants was an inadequate way of judging. There was also the issue of unfair representation of Asians on the council even though six of the 12 members are Asian. Chang pointed out that 24 of the 34 applicants were Asian--eight males and 16 females, but only one Asian male and five Asian females were selected. Chang believes there were applicants excluded who had very high scores in the paper rankings.
At their meeting, the group discussed formulating a statement that included the commission's goals and objectives, but Hanel first wanted to remind the commissioners that they work for and take direction from the city council. She added that the purpose of the teen commission is to work with the parks and recreation staff on development, promotion and evaluation of activities for youth and teens.
Because they are acting as a unified voice of the youth in Cupertino, the first priority of the commission was the development and launch of a website so they can communicate information and collect feedback.
The commission resolved to gather information by conducting youth summit meetings, where all teens from the community will be invited to voice their concerns and opinions about a variety of issues, such as the new library project, sports center and proposed skate park.
The commissioners also voted unanimously to put together a job fair in April for teens that would include internships and volunteer opportunities as well.
The commission wrapped up its meeting proposing various methods of communication they will use to reach the teen community, including the website, school venues, mailings, existing publications and public events. A website sub-committee made up of six volunteers within the group was approved, and website specialist Marc Auerbach, who sits on the Cupertino Planning Commission, volunteered his services and will be asked to attend the next meeting on Dec. 3 to discuss content ideas. The goal is to launch the new site, which will be linked to the city's www.cupertino.org web address.
The commission also discussed new meeting times. Hanel, parks and recreation supervisor, thought Friday afternoons would conflict with the students' schedules because of dances and other social events. After voting for different days and times, the commissioners decided to have their meetings on the first Monday and third Thursday of the month from 5 to 7 p.m.
The members of the teen commission are Patty Fang from Cupertino Middle School; Emily Liu from Kennedy Middle School; Kevin Busch from Harker High School; Akshita Deora and Drew Golkar from Cupertino High School; and Jacki Colloton, Erin Gatley, Angelica Zen, Kenny Lin, Zack Kolev, Aimee Jin Thayer and elected Chairman Maurice Noone--all from Monta Vista High School.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
Monta Vista senior Maurice Noone presides as chairman for the newly appointed Cupertino Teen Commission. Next to Noone is Monta Vista junior Aimee Jin Thayer.
