Speaker 1: (00:00)
Our young people are not only our future. They are also our present with those words. Last summer, San Diego mayor, Todd Gloria announced the return of the San Diego youth commission.
Speaker 2: (00:12)
They have opinions, ideas, solutions that we as a city ought to welcome ought to invite to the table, ought to make space for, in order to us guide decision making in the city with the reestablishment of the city of San Diego's youth commission, that seat at the table will now be available.
Speaker 1: (00:29)
It took several months for a group of students to be selected and hold the first meeting of the commission that took place last week and here to tell us about it is the commission's chair and rancher high school student Anusha Carala and Anusha. Welcome. Thank you, Maureen. Now what's your understanding of what the city's youth commission has been set up to do?
Speaker 3: (00:53)
So right now, right in San Diego, we have over 450,000 youth. I think the main mission of the youth commission is just to promote youth participation in, in the city civic process, right? We basically want to amplify youth voices. That way we can bring about policy changes on issues that impact youth of San Diego.
Speaker 1: (01:18)
Now, what made you wanna be part of the youth commission?
Speaker 3: (01:22)
My personal experience is working in, in diversion programs. I've se I've gotten to work with kids at a more individual Le level. I've gotten to understand their stories and their struggles. The number one thing is that most of the issues and most of the problems occur at a systemic level. So with the mayor rein stating the youth commission, what it does is that it provides an opportunity for us to, uh, look at issues that we really care about, like journal justice and work at it at a policy level. So, um, I think it just provides an incredible opportunity. So when I heard about it, it was just really exciting.
Speaker 1: (01:55)
So as we mentioned last week was the first meeting for the commission. What happened at that meeting? So we had
Speaker 3: (02:02)
Our first on December 8th, it was a very productive meeting. We had council president, uh, Shawn Rivera come and give us a welcoming speech that was really awesome to have his support. Uh, one of the first actions that we took as the commission, uh, was to establish a municipal code review subcommittee. And this was just so that we could update the municipal code as it relates to the youth commission. We also had an update from the team that oversees the city of San Diego's climate action plan, the city updated the climate action plan, and that was originally passed in 2015. And now it's being slated for updates in 2020. So, uh, the revised plan, that's kind of coming to its island stages and they're soliciting, uh, public input. So it was awesome that they were able to come and present to us and, and that initiative is called the, our climate, our future group. So, yeah, so super exciting. And I think they'll do a really great job in terms of moving San Diego toward that, uh, net zero emissions target by 2035.
Speaker 1: (03:03)
You mentioned that, uh, newly elected San Diego city council, president Sean ILA Rivera spoke at last week's youth commission meeting. Here's a little of what he had to say
Speaker 4: (03:13)
Prior to being elected to the council. I served as the executive director of an organization called youth will. And I got to see, you know, firsthand in that role, the brilliance of young folks, not just it, it was creativity, but like really, really smart policy analysis that is grounded, that was grounded in, in their day to day experiences.
Speaker 1: (03:35)
So that was city council, president Sean ILA Rivera speaking at last week's first meeting of the revived San Diego youth commission. Let's talk about diversity, Tia. What are some of the other students serving on the youth commission with you?
Speaker 3: (03:49)
Basically, we have a super diverse a group of commissioners. We have 18 commissioners in total, and one of the really great things is that they come from all the nine just of San Diego. So we have a very like well representative group of students and not only are they diverse in terms of the areas and communities that they come from, but they also have a very diverse set of interests and things that they're passionate about. We have, uh, students who are really passionate about homelessness. We have, uh, students who are passionate about climate echo, equity, justice issues, uh, students who have seen environmental and transportation issues in their communities. And they want to use this platform to, uh, speak on that, right? So there's just a, a huge, um, range of different issues that these commissioners are really interested in. And, uh, they're all really excited to use their platform to, uh, to bring about changes in their communities in, in, in San Diego.
Speaker 1: (04:45)
Let's talk about that platform. How, and when will you be presenting your ideas?
Speaker 3: (04:51)
The commission will just work together to identify issues that either come up through our public hearings, right. Um, like through public comments or also just through our work, when we're working with the youth development organizations, uh, within the city. Uh, and at that point, what we'll do is we'll create, um, subcommittees targeted to address specific issues that youth in San Diego are facing. Basically the end product for those subcommittees will just be like creating a policy report, uh, with rec recommendations that will present to the mayor and city council.
Speaker 1: (05:25)
How can people find out more about the commission and what it's
Speaker 3: (05:29)
Doing? We'll be updating the San Diego that go website with any work that we're doing or any updates. Uh, also we have our quarterly public hearings that are open to public and, and we highly encourage youth to join. Uh, at that point, we'll be discussing any updates that have happened. Uh, any progress that we made through our subcommittees or through our worth of, we have done collaborating with like youth development organizations. So we'll make sure that youth in San Diego are certainly updated through those means. Uh, we also want to, um, be active on social media and get our word out through those platforms as well.
Speaker 1: (06:06)
That's a big job. And as you say, it's very exciting Anusha. Uh, let me just say, I've been speaking with Anusha Kala. She is chair of the San Diego youth commission. Good luck. And thank you so much for speaking with us.
Speaker 3: (06:18)
Thank you.
