Sacramento will recruit a youth liaison to the City Council. Here’s what the job involves

Sacramento moved one step closer to establishing a position that will allow someone between the ages of 16 and 24 to advise its City Council.

On Tuesday, the council discussed a timeline for the city’s first youth advisory liaison to begin serving in January 2024, but several aspects have yet to be decided. 

A liaison will attend council meetings, sit with elected officials on the dais and give them advice on issues related to the city’s young people. The liaison won’t get to vote, but can attend city staff briefings with council members. 

“I know that this young person will really change the dynamic of the conversations that happen on this dais to make sure that we truly center young people,” Council member Mai Vang said during the meeting Tuesday. 

The city still needs to finalize details, including how long a liaison term will last and how much of a stipend the position will receive. The age range could also change after the Personnel and Public Employees Committee and the Sacramento Youth Commission discuss the position in upcoming meetings. 

A liaison position will be separate from the youth commission, which the council created in 2019, according to a staff report. The council passed a resolution to create a youth advisory liaison in December, just before three new members joined the dais. 

Two of those three — Council members Lisa Kaplan and Karina Talamantes — were among officials who voiced concerns about the liaison position. Kaplan, who was a Natomas Unified School District board member for 20 years, questioned whether a high school student will be able to balance academics and the advisory role. Home school students or those with alternate schedules may have an advantage over their peers in public schools because of scheduling, Kaplan added. 

Talamantes opposed the council appointing someone to the role when they could be old enough to run for office. Sacramento residents who are eligible to vote can campaign for City Council starting at age 18. If youth get an advisory seat to the council, Talamantes said other groups won’t gain the same representation. 

“A lot of people would love to sit on this dais, including many people in our disabilities community [and] our seniors,” Talamantes said. “There’s a lot of community groups and that’s where we have commissions. We need to make sure that we take advantage of our commissions.” 

But supporters argued the liaison position will empower the city’s youth and give young people experience. Ana Taukolo, a representative of the Sac Kids First Coalition, asked the council to move forward with implementing the advisory position. 

“Please consider putting your trust in young people,” Taukolo said. “Because as we always say every single time we’re here, young people are not just 30% of the population today, they are 100% of our future. And they deserve a seat at a table.”

Vang proposed the liaison receive an annual stipend of $25,000 in addition to transportation, technology and professional development allowances. The budget could change as the implementation process continues, however. The council also discussed reducing the term to one year instead of two as detailed in the initial resolution. 

Next steps for creating the liaison position include recommendations from the youth commission and the city’s Personnel and Public Employees Committee determining details such as the term duration. The council also discussed the possibility of the committee establishing a rotation system to ensure a youth liaison isn’t from the same district every year. 

If the city follows the proposed schedule, recruitment for the position could begin in the summer. In November, the council could appoint its first youth advisory liaison, who would start their term in the new year.