Update, 4/9: Mayor Ed Murray has asked the Youth Commission to take down the video because it violates City of Seattle ethics rules. The video creators plan to remove the commission’s logo and repost it. We will update this post with the correct link when it is available.
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Today’s press release from the Seattle Youth Commission reinforces the importance of transit to our communities. Public high school students will be among the many thousands of King County residents left stranded if their buses are cut.
SEATTLE, WA: The Seattle Youth Commission is a group of 25 Seattleites aged 13-19 who are appointed by the Mayor and City Council to connect youth to their elected officials. On April 7th, they released a Youtube video to inform youth around Seattle of possible Metro bus cuts. The video, edited by Chief Sealth student Sam Orlin and narrated by Roosevelt student Sean Fox, emphasizes the heavy impact Metro has on students, and the school-related routes that are being cut, reduced, or rerouted.
The video also informs students about ways in which they can help stop the cuts, by asking for a “Yes” vote on Proposition 1, and encouraging students to contact their State Legislators, in regard to a statewide transportation bill.
The Youth Commission hopes that the video will be shown to students all over Seattle Public Schools in their American Government classes. “When we began making the video back in November, we hoped it would be an informative tool that would help students understand the upcoming bus cuts,” said video editor and Youth Commissioner Sam Orlin.”We still have that hope, and will be sending it out to students and teachers all over the district to raise awareness of the possible cuts. However, now that Proposition 1 is on the ballot, we also hope that the video will help show voters in King County how important Metro is to students.“
This is not the first time that the Seattle Youth Commission has gotten involved in transportation related issues. In 2012, the Commission urged the King County Council to accept changes to Metro’s service that would benefit students traveling to and from school. The Commission has also worked with King County Metro to align bus times with school start and end times in the Ballard neighborhood.
“As Youth Commissioners, we have a responsibility to students to speak up for issues we believe in. This video is our way of doing that, and we hope that the voters of King County hear our voice, and help to save our buses.” – Sam Orlin
