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MAYOR FOR A DAY STUDENT CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Five Local Youth Selected as Mayor for a Day Contest Winners

What is the one thing you would do if you were Mayor of the City of Santa Clarita for one day? More than 100 local students answered this question during Mayor Frank Ferry’s live chat on www.mayordude.com in April. Five of the students were selected to be Mayor for day on Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

[name withheld by the archive], a junior at Valencia High School was one of the five winners. She said she would have the Plain White T’s and other great bands come to Santa Clarita, then get all of the teens in town together to discuss cool things to add to our City. She also suggested adding a drive-in because those are just awesome.

The second winner, [name withheld by the archive], is a sixth grader at Rosedell Elementary school. He said he would open small companies for jobless people to try and help them make money. He also said he’d plant more trees to give us a greener city and declare a yearly go-cart race for children (with adult supervision of course). [name withheld by the archive] said he plans to open an art and literature museum for children to express themselves.

Also selected as a winner was [name withheld by the archive], a sixth grader at Rosedell Elementary school who said he would like to have roller hockey start up again. He wants the City to build a roller hockey rink so that children and teenagers won’t be doing a whole bunch of bad stuff, but will have something to do. [name withheld by the archive] promised to tell the Mayor more about this if he was chosen.

[name withheld by the archive], a West Ranch High School senior, said that if he were mayor for a day, he would consider two courses of action. First, he would lift all sales taxes for a day, which would increase consumption. If this could boost revenue through job creation in the long run, then it would provide a very strong argument for a decrease in taxes, he said. Second, as an attempt to bring the youth into the City, he would hold an open house for City government to allow students to come see government officials in action.

Finally, [name withheld by the archive], a junior at Saugus High School, said she would work to improve the confidence and lift people’s spirits during these tough times. She said she would help create or sponsor events, gatherings and organizations that bring the people together and promote optimism. She added that it is much easier to overcome adversity together, when you know that the people to your left and right are going through the same challenges as you.

“I was very impressed with the thought that students put into answering the question. I think our City is in good hands with the youth of today leading our future,” commented Mayor Frank Ferry.

The contest winners will spend the day with Mayor Ferry, accompanying him to a Police and Fire Games event, touring the City and visiting City facilities.