Hearing on youth program Tuesday

Costa Mesa’s new youth-in-government program, canceled in January by a majority of the City Council, on Tuesday will get the public hearing some council members were clamoring for when they voted to put it on hold.

It’s not clear what they’ll discuss, though, since the city manager is giving the same report he gave last month and none of the council members has asked for any additional information or made any suggestions to staff.

The program was suggested in 2005 by Councilwoman Katrina Foley, and city staff developed it. Students from Costa Mesa and Estancia high schools were to learn about local government and participate in a youth council to suggest ways to improve the city.

The group had its first meeting in December. Mayor Allan Mansoor, Councilman Eric Bever and Councilwoman Wendy Leece voted Jan. 16 not to continue the program at present, saying it was not properly adopted by the council, and they wanted more input on it.

City Manager Allan Roeder took the blame, saying he misjudged whether it needed to come to the council for a vote because it had elements of both a recreation program, which wouldn’t need separate approval, and a committee, which the council must vote on.

The council may get an earful Tuesday from students who were in the program, as some planned to attend the meeting and ask to have the program reinstated. The same request also was sent in writing this week by the Harbor Council PTA, an umbrella group for the presidents of 27 PTAs in the Newport-Mesa district.

Harbor Council PTA President Nadine Turner said the group asked her to write a letter on its behalf, and specifically for the two affected schools, in support of the youth-in-government program.

“It’s a good program for kids to understand how local government works, and it builds bridges by building relationships between the students and people in the city,” Turner said. “If they’ve got concerns, let them fix it before trashing a program that’s worked in other cities.”

Foley said she’ll ask for the program to be brought back for a vote at a council meeting. The council can’t take action at a study session.

Roeder will look for specifics on what should be in the program if it is resumed, he said. “I hope that if there’s an intention of going forward with it, that we’ve kind of gotten over the issue of how it was originally brought forward and can really focus time and attention on” what the program should look like, he said.