City of Sweetwater Accepting Applications for Youth Advisory Council

Sweetwater, FL – The City of Sweetwater is announcing an opportunity for young people wishing to become active in public service. Youth ages 18-24 are encouraged to apply for a seat in the City of Sweetwater Youth Advisory Board, a group of young people selected by commissioners to meet once a month in the Sweetwater City Hall Commission Chambers to discuss and make recommendations regarding important matters that affect youth in the City of Sweetwater.

As of the Regular Commission Meeting on Monday night, no commissioners had made any nominations to the board. During the meeting, Commissioner David Borrero encouraged other members of the commission to make a nomination. “I want to admonish you, this is a resource that we’re not utilizing in the city. I don’t want for us to miss out on something that could be a great benefit for the city…”

There will be a total of 7 Youth Advisory Board members. Board Members are not required to live within the City of Sweetwater city limits and will each receive a $50 check on a monthly basis from the City of Sweetwater for participating in the board. The Mayor’s office will be responsible for selecting one mentor to lead the meetings.

“Once a month, we have youth who don’t have to live in the city, young adults ages 18-24 who meet up on a monthly basis and discuss issues that are of concern to youth and young adults in the city. I think it’s a fantastic idea to get community participation from a huge population in the city,” added Borrero. The number of college students living in the City of Sweetwater is reported to be 5,000 according to Commissioner David Borrero.

“Those students don’t really have that well of representation, this is an excellent way to hear their voices, to listen to their concerns, to propose solutions to issues that they face, whether it’s the price of housing or parks and facilities that we can support to improve the quality of life for them, I strongly encourage for the next meeting if you can, reach out to someone of that age range.”

Commission President Joniel Diaz also encouraged parents to get their kids involved in the Youth Advisory Board, “Parents, if you want your kids to be more involved in the city and give them a sense of actual control of what’s going on around them, go ahead and reach out to the commissioners, any one of us are more than willing to go ahead and propose them for this Youth Advisory Council and they can have a very loud say of what’s going on in the city.”

One FIU Student interested in serving in the Youth Advisory Board went before the commission to speak about his efforts in FIU. Alejandro Matias, 19, International Business Major at FIU, decided to start The Greenhouse, a community where students can explore faith, God, and community, with 15 members. “One of the things we’ve been able to see is the importance of community for young people of our city. A lot don’t come from around here and don’t have family members around here, some are living on campus for the first time, so they have their own concerns, with no one to voice concerns to. Having that at FIU has been great and I would love to have that in the City of Sweetwater considering a lot of students live in the area.”

During the meeting, Commissioner Prisca Barreto nominated Andy Bergouignan, Ex-Commissioner Jose Bergouignan’s son.