City recruiting youth for advisory committee

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The City of Woodstock is looking for people 13 years and older to join the Youth Advisory Committee.

Committee members provide advice and recommendations to council on a variety of topics and issues to help shape the future of Woodstock.

“When I talk with students during my visits to our local high schools, it’s clear they have a lot to offer our community,” said Mayor Jerry Acchione. “The Youth Advisory Committee gives young people the opportunity to voice their concerns, share their ideas and provide input on decisions that affect our city.”

Councillor Liz Wismer-Van Meer, who works at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oxford County, is also a committee member and said there are a lot of young people out there with great ideas to share to support the youth of the community.

“They are the ones living it, they are the ones with the lived experience. Adults, sure we can try our best to try and comprehend and try to meet the needs of young people, but there is no better voice than theirs.”

She added having a committee like this one is important for any community because youth share what they want, what they need and how we can support them.

“They are the future of our community.”

Wismer-Van Meer said the city has done an excellent job in the last five or 10 years in providing recreation for youth but she admitted there is much work still to be done.

“We need to address the needs of young people who aren’t into sports and recreation. The art gallery offers some great programs as does our local theatre. There are a lot of youth who need a safe space to go where they can be themselves and feel welcomed. It’s something we don’t have in our community that we could benefit from.”

She alluded to the fact Woodstock is one of Ontario’s fastest-growing municipalities which makes it even more important to listen to what the youth in the city have to say. Wismer-Van Meer, a rookie councillor, said this is the first time she has seen a recruitment drive for the committee

“We have taken our time and have had a few meetings leading up to this to look at best practices and get ideas of what we think will work, and what won’t work. We are hoping with some of our connections in the schools and my network of people working in social services that we can recruit some people.”

She added some young people have expressed interest in becoming involved and she is confident they can have a full committee.

“Hopefully we can get them engaged quickly and hit the ground running.”

The Echo asked Wismer-Van Meer if she thought some potential committee members may be scared away because of a perceived political connection. She wanted to assure people that is not the case.

“This is them having an opportunity to voice their thoughts, their concerns, their ideas and what they would like to see. We want them to be the voice of young people to bring ideas forward to council. We don’t look at it from the political side.”

She added while it may be a municipal group coming together some youth may be interested in politics and others won’t be. Either way, she had a message for the youth of Woodstock.

“You can make this what you want it to be. It could be getting your feet wet in the political landscape or just having the opportunity to be involved in what the future looks like.”

The Youth Advisory Committee, pre-COVID, met in council chambers in downtown Woodstock. Wismer-Van Meer said that may change going forward.

“We have been discussing having meetings in public places throughout the community in places that might be more suitable for young people to gather.

Advisory committees typically meet once a month and meetings for the youth committee will be scheduled around members’ availability. Staff and members of council will support participants in identifying priorities they want to address and developing a workplan to achieve the committee’s goals.

Information about the committee and how to apply can be found at www.cityofwoodstock.ca/youthcommittee. The deadline to apply is Oct. 31, 2024.