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Segment 1

Assemblymember Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember somebody's not muted.
All right.
Good morning, everybody.
My name is Dan and I'm the city's council for 5.00PM on Tuesday July 92024.
The first order of business is roll call the city clerk and please call the roll.
Councilmember kisser want to currently absent that one is currently absent.
Bartlett is currently absent and I'm going to go ahead and call the roll.
Councilmember the city council's present.
Thank you.
This is a special meeting to take up one item.
Which is on our action calendar item one.
Adopting an ordinance providing for youth voting for persons age 1617 years.
But for the office of school director pursuant to article 3 section 5, 3 of the city charter.
And adopting a resolution calling for youth voting for persons age 1617 years.
I'm going to call the roll and I'll ask the city clerk or city attorney if there is a staff presentation on this item.
Okay, Mr.
Harvey, I believe we'll be presenting on this item.
Good evening, members of the council.
The item before you does 2 things.
First, it adopts a resolution providing for youth voting in the November 2024 election specifically.
By way of background, in 2016, voters approved measure Y1 which amended the city charter to allow the city council to authorize youth voting in school board elections via ordinance.
For a number of reasons, youth voting was not technically and administratively feasible.
But over the past several years, the city has been working on this.
The city has been working on this.
Berkeley unified school district, Oakland unified school district and Alameda county have been working and in discussions confirming that Alameda county now has the technical ability and has hired outside contractors to successfully achieve youth voting in school board elections this fall.
The ordinance also provides that each election year, the city council would authorize via resolution youth voting for that specific election.
That resolution is also included in the item before you.
One major thing that the charter requires and which is reiterated and codified in the ordinance is it requires that no city of Berkeley funds can be used for youth voting.
So only the Berkeley unified school district funds can be used to cover any election costs associated with youth voting.
The resolution before you calls for youth voting in November 2012 for election.
One of the other things it does is it requests that the Alameda registrar place a vote center, if feasible, in Berkeley high school to help facilitate voting by persons aged 16 and 17.
So that's it.
I don't see any questions from you on this item.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mr.
Harvey, and thank you for including that last part, because that was my suggestion that we look at having a vote center on the Berkeley high campus so we can have as much participation as possible.
I just have to say how excited I am that we're finally taking this step.
It's been a long time coming.
It's been a long time coming, and I'm glad that legal and voters came to us to ask us to put a measure on the ballot in 2016, which was measure Y1 to allow persons ages 16 and 17 years old to vote in school board elections, and it makes complete sense.
They know more than we do about what they need and who should best represent them in school board elections.
It's been a long time coming, and it's a really important, exciting step, and my hope is that this will be the beginning of efforts to broaden the ability of young people to be able to vote in elections, not just school board elections, but city council elections, mayoral elections.
I know there have been efforts at the state level to broaden voter participation for young voters.
I know there have been efforts at the state level to broaden voter participation for young voters.
One thing I just want to emphasize, and I know I shared this with staff when we talked about this, I think it was a few weeks ago, is the need for us to really prioritize education to eligible voters about this new system .
I'm not sure if you have any thoughts on that.
Could that be part of our broader education efforts? Is the registered voters, or BOSD, do they have any plans around education efforts for young people ages 16 and 17 around youth voting? Yes.
I think the focus really has been, and Mr.
Harvey can answer that, the focus in our discussions with Oakland and the registrar voters and BOSD up to this point has been making sure that this is going to happen first of all.
The registrar is still doing a lot of testing and verification to make sure that it's going to be technically feasible.
I think once we know for sure that it's going to happen and we have the information that we're looking for that the outreach machine will kick into high gear and I think BOSD will probably be the lead on that along with the registrar voters and probably doing some coordinated work with Oakland Unified to save costs and have efficiencies with the materials that are put out.
We'll do the most adhering to the charter directive that there's not direct or indirect costs incurred by the city for youth voting, but we will be willing partners in the outreach that the county and BOSD is engaging in, certainly.
Thank you.
I'll certainly follow up with the president of the school board around the importance of this element because I think it's going to be really key to as many young people being able to participate in this process as possible.
I think it's important to be aware of and participate in this process as possible because we want as many people to participate now that we have this expanded voting right in Berkeley.
So this is very exciting.
I'm glad that we're taking a step and before we move to comments or motions, I want to open up for public comment.
So is anyone here in person who'd like to make a comment? Okay.
All right.
Good evening, everyone.
So when people in attendance tonight as well, we're doing things a little bit differently.
Tonight, we're going to be using the in-room timers for public comments.
There's two large clocks on the wall, one behind me here, one behind the above the pride flag.
There's also one on the speaker's podium behind me.
So we're going to be using the in-room timers.
We're going to be using the in-room timers.
We don't have the giant clock and a little person.
We're going to try this out and see how it goes.
Great.
Welcome.
Good evening.
My name is Jacob Goldman.
I am a 16-year-old and I attend a school.
Without being able to vote in school board elections, I can feel like my voice is not heard in addressing those problems.
Being able to vote in school board elections would mean that my peers and I could feel represented in the schools that we attend every day.
Furthermore, establishing the practice of voting early in life is a vital step for increasing overall civic participation among the youth.
If we are considered old enough to drive cars at 16, I support this resolution.
Thank you.
Hello there.
My name is Maisie Klein and I'm a resident of Berkeley, California and alumna of Berkeley High School.
I was 12 years old when Y1 passed for the first time.
When I was 16, I was convinced that the next election would be one that I could vote in.
I spent my high school years testifying at school board meetings, registering my peers to vote.
I was a president of Vote 16 when I was in high school and I talked to county administrators, city administrators who were convinced that 2020 was the year that I was going to be able to vote for my school board member.
Alas, here we are.
I voted for the first time when I was 18 by mail from college.
But I do believe that for these young high schoolers who I'm here with today, they can see this opportunity that I did not see.
I believe that school board is so incredibly impactful on the lives that high schoolers carry and we've seen that Berkeley High School students are deeply passionate about the issues that affect them from sexual harassment, which was a major issue for me that I advocated for when I was in high school, and students now who are walking out from Palestine.
They deserve to be able to have a say at the school board members who are representing them.
And they're old enough to know what's going on in the world and have a right to vote for it.
So I strongly urge you to vote for this measure.
Thank you.
Hi, everybody.
My name is Liam Buffington and I'm a rising junior at Berkeley High.
I'm here to support youth voting rights and resolution.
Being a Berkeley High student, I notice opportunities for improvement that could only be caught by students who are the main subjects of difficulties and changes in our school.
By allowing a student representative on the school board, the board will benefit from new perspectives.
This would let students make decisions on changes that would affect them every day.
Students should have a say on areas of needs that directly impact them because they are the experts of these areas.
Students should be able to vote based on their individual needs.
Needs including educational, physical, financial, and mental health needs.
This is to allow every student to function at their highest potential.
Please vote yes on the youth vote ordinance and resolution to strengthen the vote of students and future leaders.
Thank you.
I am here to enthusiastically support the adoption of the youth voting ordinance and resolution before you today.
I have volunteered on lots of local and national campaigns in my life and I have met so many voters who are confused or intimidated by the voting process.
As an educator and as a parent, I'm just so excited about the opportunity here for us to begin educating our young people at age 16 about how to be involved in their life and how to be a part of their community.
With youth voting in place, our young people here in Berkeley will be able to register to vote, research candidates, and learn how to complete and return their ballots, all with the support and the guidance of their parents and their teachers.
To your earlier question, Mayor Arreguin, about voter education, I have tremendous faith in our history and our government teachers who are going to be able to walk their students through this process.
I'm also confident that our young people will be able to start a lifetime of being voters who are engaged in the democratic process.
And even more importantly, as you've heard from the kids, allowing our young people to vote for school board members who will make crucial decisions that impact their daily experiences at school is going to bring their concerns and their issues to the forefront of the school board campaign, which I think is critically important.
Thank you, Mayor Arreguin, and I look forward to seeing how our 17-year-olds will be able to vote this November.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Hi.
Good evening.
How are you? Good to see you, those of you that I know, except for Councilmember Humbert.
My name is Vanessa.
I'm a event board commissioner here in the City of Berkeley, and I'm here to talk about the fundamental right of public education.
And I just want to underscore the importance of young people in the voting process.
I think Berkeley is doing something that is really groundbreaking, and hopefully the rest of the Bay Area and the state will follow.
One of the things I want us to be really mindful of is any access for black and brown indigenous populations.
Historically, as you all know, the voting rights have been suppressed, and I want to make sure, to Mayor Arreguin's point, that there is accessibility, that all young people, no matter what their race is, if they have a disability, any other type of resiliency factor, that they're able to vote in this November election.
And I'd like for there to be safeguards put in place in order for them to do that.
So I'm on the two-by-two with the Berkeley school directors, and I'm excited to talk more about how we can make sure that we're able to do that.
And I'm going to hand it back to Mayor Arreguin to make sure that we get there, because it's really important for the city.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Are there any other speakers here in person? Seeing none, I'll go to any speakers on Zoom who would like to speak on Item 1.
Please raise your virtual hand if you want to be out of the speaker's queue.
Once again, are there any speakers on Zoom? Seeing none, I'll make the motion for purposes of discussion to approve Item 1.
Seconded.
Okay, and then Councilor Lueb-Parr.
Thank you.
I just want to say, I honestly really can't even put into words how excited I am about this.
First and foremost, I am so thankful for all of the young advocates who have poured their heart and soul into this push, and unfortunately I don't know how many of them have been able to do this without their advocacy and without their passion.
I also want to thank the City Clerk and the City Attorney for all of their hard work.
This is really important for a couple of reasons.
Across the country, right-wing forces are fighting to restrict our right to vote, disproportionately impacting low-income voters, voters of color, and young voters.
I am so proud that in this city, we are fighting to ensure that our local government most directly reflects the will of our residents.
Students, young people are an imperative element of our school district, of our city, and our democracy, and they deserve a say in how our city is run and a seat at the table.
I am so excited about this.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
We'll go next to Councilor Humbert.
Thank you, Mr.
Mayor.
I remember voting for Measure Y1, and I voted yes, and it's been a long time coming.
It's been a long time coming, and many years later, we get a chance to really put it into play.
I want to thank all the folks who've worked on the proposal.
It's a great idea.
I'm enthusiastic about it.
We entrust 16- and 17-year-olds with cars and to work at jobs.
I think it's perfectly reasonable to entrust them with voting, with even a wider franchise than this one, maybe in the future, where so many decisions are being made for them, and especially on this issue, in this instance, that impacts students so directly.
I know that school board is just one corner of the overall election universe, and this is a starting place.
The earlier we can get young people voting and civically engaged, for some of the reasons that Councilmember Lunapara mentioned, the better.
Some people might worry that students getting a vote in the first place could swing elections.
But my response to that is that's the point of it.
If students are engaged and active enough that they are swinging elections, that's exciting, and that's exactly what we want.
I also appreciate that this measure has been designed to be cost-neutral for the city, so there's really no risk in us supporting it, this forward-thinking policy.
I'll be an emphatic yes, and thank you again, everybody, BUSD, the clerk, city staff, the city attorney, all the student advocates, and everybody who worked to make this happen.
Thank you for all that good, hard work, and I, again, will vote yes.
Thank you.
Councilmember Hahn? Thank you very much.
I also am very excited to be voting yes on this, long-awaited, and I want to thank the former student advocates and the current students for their hard work.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I also just second the comments of my colleagues, all of them, and I want to thank also staff and everyone who worked to put this together.
I think there's a lot of data that shows that habits that are formed in high school are lifelong, and that can be both good and bad.
And I think that's really important.
I think it's really important that we don't hook youth on their brands because they can make lifelong smokers out of them.
And so if the private companies are really seeking out youth, I think it really tells us that they really believe that the habits that they create are lifelong.
And so I think one of the best opportunities that anyone can have, which is to vote, and take that opportunity to have young people do their first voting in this community where we value voting so strongly.
Most youth in Berkeley have parents who vote because we're a very diverse community.
And so I think it's really important for young people to have that opportunity of voting to be established and then carried out because not everyone, like myself, graduates from Berkeley High and ends up spending their whole life here.
Most youth from Berkeley end up going elsewhere.
And so they will bring that deep-seated commitment to voting with them.
And so I think that's just the cornerstone of our democracy.
So I'm excited about this, really happy to be able to vote yes on this today.
I did have just a few questions, just for my own interest.
They're not concerns, but for my own interest.
So this is all youth, right? I mean, I'm not sure who would answer.
This is not just kids at Berkeley High, right? Yeah.
I mean, obviously, the vast majority of our 16 and 17-year-olds are in our public schools, but not all of them are.
And I want to make sure that we make an effort to have the information go beyond Berkeley High, to have the voting locations and opportunities go beyond Berkeley High, that we're reaching out to some of the private and Catholic high schools.
And I want to make sure that all the kids from Berkeley attend, so that really every youth in Berkeley knows about and is able to enjoy this opportunity.
And then I will be interested in sort of the questions of campaigning at schools.
I assume that that still would not be allowed, but that around the edges of schools, as it currently is.
And I would also learn a little bit about that important division between our public institutions and the electoral process, which has to be separated from that.
So I just think there's many, many opportunities all around, and I do want to make sure that all youth in Berkeley who may or may not go to school in the public institutions, are able to participate in this opportunity.
And I know that there are many people in Berkeley who transfer and go to public schools and other communities.
So I just want to make sure that absolutely everyone in Berkeley, the Technology Academy, that everyone is really embraced through this opportunity.
So, thank you.
Thank you.
That's a very, very excellent point.
I want to give praise first and foremost to all the advocates, current and past as well as present, and all the city staff that helped make this possible.
It is not lost on me that while I have the distinct privilege today to sit here and be able to cast an aye vote for the implementation measure, we really stand on the shoulders of giants.
I think about members of the Council over the past eight years that have helped push to make this happen.
And we owe it to them as well.
I think back when I was 18 in high school and this little situation where I had to learn a new language.
I was held back in elementary school, so I was a little bit older as a senior.
And I turned 18 just in time to vote in the November presidential, no, November election.
I remember how special it was to be able to go cast by ballot.
I also remember that year working with several very precocious 16 and 17-year-olds to host a forum for candidates running for school board in my local high school.
And it was unfortunate that these 16 and 17-year-olds that did such an incredible job of organizing this forum and had some very thoughtful questions, were unable to themselves cast a vote in that election for that set of school board candidates.
So I think about that, and I think about how exciting it would be for, as many have already said, if we have ordained that 16 is old enough to be able to get a driver's license, it certainly is high time that they're able to participate in our democracy.
I also want to just note and flag what I thought were very important points by members of the public that we must keep equity in mind, that we must keep education in mind to make sure that disparities that are sadly still endemic in all aspects of our city, including the school district, that that does not show up in terms of the ability for folks to know that they can register and that they should register to vote if they're able.
With that in mind, and I remember campaigning for this measure, I was so excited when it passed.
I also didn't think it would last for years until we'll be able to do this, but I'm deeply honored to be able to support it at this time.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Councilor Kisilwani? Thank you very much, Mr.
Mayor.
I just also wanted to express my brief enthusiasm for this.
I just regret that it took so long for this to be implemented.

Segment 2

I just want to note that this is a national movement that is happening in cities across the country to engage youth in voting.
And I want to congratulate the young people who initiated this and recognize that they're not so young now, eight years later.
But I, I, I'm excited for the, the current 16 and 17 year olds to have an opportunity to vote in school board elections beginning this November.
That's all.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Are there any other council members with any additional comments or questions on this item? Okay, if not, the motion is to adopt.
The staff recommendation was adopted in the ordinance and the resolution.
Which the resolution is calling the election.
I guess I have 1 question before.
We vote, which is now that we have Berkeley has.
The election for the office of school director school board director.
16, 17 year olds can 16 and 17 year olds run for school board director.
No.
Why is that? I know Sam, did you want to.
I know there's a provision in the ordinance that sort of.
So, the ordinance itself specifically says that this only applies to the ability to vote.
For those for those offices, and the authority.
Granted, but a council to a measure by 1, just extend to.
The right to vote as well.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Maybe that's the next step.
Okay.
With that, let's call the roll.
Okay, council member.
Yes.
Yes.
Hi, yes.
When graph is absent, sorry.
Yes.
Yes, and mayor.
Yes.
Okay.
Okay.
The motion carries.
Thank you.
Thank you all for coming today.
Thanks for all your work.
Thank you.
Oh, there's there's no members participating virtually.
Correct.
That's correct.
So, any objection to a German.
No objection the motion carries unanimously.
Thank you.
Okay.
Recording stopped.
Thank you.