A new West Bountiful Youth City Council was sworn into office at a city council meeting on Sept. 7 in front of a crowd of supporting family and friends.

“I think this is the most people we’ve had at a city council meeting all year,” said councilmember Mark Preece.

Mayor Elsie Buck, a senior at Viewmont High School, was the first to be sworn in. Mayor Buck first joined the Youth CIty Council in 2018, making her the longest serving member currently on the council.

“I wanted to get involved and see behind the scenes - the planning. So I joined and it was a lot of fun,” she said.

The Council of 17 teenagers includes two of Mayor Buck’s younger brothers.

“They don’t get paid for anything they do. They volunteer their time among a lot of other competing alternatives and activities that they could be doing and participating in, so we appreciate all of the service that they render,” said councilmember James Ahlstrom.

The Youth City Council is responsible for one of the largest Easter egg hunts in the valley, as well as Christmas on Onion Street - where an entourage of police and fire trucks cruise through every neighborhood in the city with Santa (and sometimes Olaf) aboard. The parade is usually followed with Santa photo ops, activities and hot chocolate at the park. 

“I’ll take charge of the activities, the crafts and stuff. I make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be, that they are doing their jobs - and that snowball fights don’t occur,” said Mayor Buck.

“The adults are so good about making her do her job. Sometimes she’ll go and ask a question and they’ll say figure it out,” said Mayor Buck’s mom, Cyndi Buck.

West Bountiful Youth City Council advisors Jen and Chris Jacobson were asked by Mayor Ken Romney to come in halfway through the year last year, right before the Christmas activity.

“We facilitate and counsel them, but we try to step back and allow them to really spread their wings and it’s been really cool to see how they have grown and it’s going to be really great to see how they grow throughout this next year,” said Chris Jacobsen.

“This group has some really exciting ideas for the events that we are doing. They make all of the decisions and come up with the ideas. They prep everything. They run everything,” said Jen Jacobsen.

The Youth City Council will have a leadership training retreat and will be involved in multiple service projects around the city. Their first big service project was on September 10 for the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.

“I’ve gotten a lot better at doing service because Youth City Council makes it a lot more fun and builds our work ethic,” said Mayor Pro Tem Noah Peterson.

“I want to help them learn what I’ve learned in my own life, that serving others is the key to happiness,” Chris Jacobson.

The West Bountiful City Council welcomed the new team of teenagers with the news that they will have to endure at least one full city council meeting during their time in office this year. λ