Penrith City Council has selected 15 primary school students to take part in its annual Junior Councillor program, with Jessee Sales-Hobart from Luddenham PS named Junior Mayor for 2012.
The students entered the competition to be part of the mock council through their schools, and will have the opportunity to debate topics that Penrith City Councillors have previously deliberated. Jessee said she is very excited to be part of the six-week program.
“I am school captain so I have had a bit of experience being a leader,” she said.
She also said that she likes debating and is in the debating team at school so is looking forward to debating issues at the junior council meeting.
On Monday evening, the 15 students chose two topics to debate. The first is on whether council should spend $1million on installing bike tracks or if the money should be used for something else.
The second topic is about closing a laneway that residents use to access a local supermarket but that also attracts graffiti and thieves.
The junior councillors will be mentored by Penrith councillors in the lead up to the debates, held in Local Government Week on August 13.
They will also be offered a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to take part in the re-enactment trek marking 200 years since the first crossing of the Blue Mountains in 2013.
The trek will go from the site of Blaxland’s farm at St Marys to the Nepean River on Saturday, May 11 next year and is set to be one of the Council’s largest community events.
