YMCA Youth & Government delegates take over Burbank City Hall
In snappy business attire, a dozen local high schoolers Monday night took over the dais at Burbank City Hall to present and debate three proposed bills they plan to take to Sacramento early next year.
It wasn’t a coup. The sharply dressed students were Burbank’s delegates in the YMCA’s Youth & Government program trying to narrow down the legislation they would present at the statewide program’s model legislature and court in Sacramento this February. The hearing was also attended by family, friends and other invited guests.
Student delegates presented bills addressing concerns with the bottling of California water amid the ongoing drought, out-of-date school textbooks and food waste. The proposed measures sought regulation, mandates or incentives to solve the problems, and students advocated for and against the items or answered questions from the public about their solutions.
The program, which includes 90 delegations from around the state and more than 2,800 student delegates, is intended to build leadership and civic engagement in California’s youth.
“Democracy still has to be learned,” said J.C. Holt, Burbank YMCA president and chief executive, in opening remarks. “When our teens and our youth do learn democracy, the influence is phenomenal.”
Holt cited results of a Y study that found Youth & Government alumni are more likely to register to vote, vote, work on community issues and complete a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Delegates marshaled many of the same tactics professional politicians wield, whether it was appeals to logic, fiscal responsibility, emotion or humor.
Clare Collins argued for greater regulation of the bottled water industry, stressing the sacrifices Californians were making in the face of a historic drought. She argued that “wealthy corporations” like Nestle ought to shoulder more of the burden as well.
Arguing for a bill that would require school districts to purchase new textbooks every year, Siwat Poosong posed the riddle, “Why did [President] Obama cross the road?” He didn’t know the answer, he said, because his history textbook is so far out of date it doesn’t include the Obama presidency.
In the end, the most popular bill seemed to be a measure proposed by Moah Pollas, a Burbank High School senior and four-year participant in the program. The measure seeks to extend and expand tax incentives for companies donating food to food banks. The goal of the bill would be to help the needy, but also to cut down on food waste.
Pollas, the delegation’s president, recruited many of the other participants in the program. He said he pitched them the same vision he was presented as a freshman when he joined — the opportunity to be one of about 3,000 students in the state who, for a weekend in February, “take over” the state capitol.
But Pollas said the program isn’t just about the model legislature and court, but allows students to gain experience as lobbyists or as journalists covering the model legislature. He’s seen the program “help a lot of students find their voice,” he said.
Pollas was one of the more polished and relaxed speakers of the evening, but his father Bob Pollas said he recalls his son as tentative during his first year in the program. At the time, he worked off of a written text, but this year he simply had a few notes to keep him on message.
“I’ve seen a lot of growth,” Bob Pollas said. “He was like on fire.”
Moah Pollas said the Youth & Government experience has helped him decide to pursue a political science degree after high school and then, hopefully, law school.
His father, who works in biotech, said that’s “a direct result of this experience.”
“He found his niche,” Bob Pollas said.
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Chad Garland, chad.garland@latimes.com
Twitter: @chadgarland
