The Tigard City Council appointed Tigard resident Meghan E. Turley to serve as Tigard’s first-ever Youth City Councilor for a 1-year term effective July 1, 2019.
Youth City Councilor Turley was selected following an interview process conducted on June 13, 2019 with Mayor Snider, Council President John Goodhouse and City Manager Marty Wine.
The Mayor received five applications for the new Youth City Councilor position from students representing Tigard High School and the Muslim Educational Trust. All five of these accomplished and well-rounded young men and women were interviewed.
In September, Councilor Turley will begin her Senior year at Tigard High School. Her qualifications are impressive. She is an advocate for connecting youth with their community and seeks opportunities for students to voice their opinions on the issues that matter to Tigard youth.
Councilor Turley’s leadership experience includes terms as a Junior and Freshman Class Representative, Editor in Chief for her School Newspaper, and President of Politics Club.
She served as an Executive Director of the March for Our Lives Oregon campaign until April and now works for Zero USA’s research team, a national organization dedicated to ensuring zero lives are lost to preventable gun violence.
Tigard City Council established the Youth City Councilor program on April 2, 2019 with the adoption of Resolution No. 19-13. This program allows the Mayor to appoint one Tigard resident entering their junior or senior year of high school to serve as a non-voting, de facto member of the Tigard City Council. The position will not attend executive sessions or be given confidential information for executive sessions. She will sit with the City Council at meetings and comply with council rules of procedure and professional conduct.
The youth city councilor is invited to participate in all City Council activities outside of regularly scheduled council meetings (National Night Out, Meet & Greets, Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony, etc.) as long as the activity does not interfere with school commitments.