Quincy youth takes seat on on city council

QUINCY — Carlos Guadarrama spent his junior and senior years of high school doing something few high schoolers in the country do — he was a member of the Quincy City Council.

“Basically, at the end of my sophomore year, my English teacher came up to me and said I should do this,” Guadarrama said. “I would learn how local politics works, how money is handled. And I learned a lot.”

Since 2013, Quincy has selected a high school student to sit on the city council as a way of helping young people understand government and help city government get a “youth perspective,” according to Mayor Jim Hemberry.

“I think it has been really good. The student representative can’t vote, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be part of the discussion,” Hemberry said.

The council selects two high school students — a senior to be the regular member and a junior who serves as the alternate — to participate in council meetings and city government.

Hemberry said he wish the council’s student representative would speak up more, however.

“We need to be better at that,” he said.

Guadarrama, who graduated from both Quincy High School and Big Bend Community College in May and is off to the University of Washington in the fall to study chemistry in hopes of eventually becoming a dentist, said he didn’t feel all that shy about speaking up.

“For a while, I was helping with parks and recreation, with things that needing fixing. They solicited my input, and I talked to the mayor,” he said.

“When I had something I had to put in, I give them my 2 cents,” Guadarrama added.

Guadarrama’s successor is incoming senior Jazmine Benitez, who is looking forward to her time on the council.

“I want to do this,” Benitez said, adding she hopes to learn some confidence and communications skills while serving on the city council.

Benitez said she’s been the treasurer for her church’s youth group and will be helping out incoming freshman at Quincy High School this fall.

Guadarrama said he hopes that more students apply for the student representative position, since “there isn’t a lot of competition.” He also said he’s open to the idea of participating in city government in the future.

“It doesn’t seem like a bad gig,” he said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.