Ma’layah Latty-Farrar, a McNary High School graduate, was unsure of herself when she applied for the youth councilor position on the Keizer City Council.
But now, with her term behind her, she remembers the experience fondly.
“It was a great way for me to learn about the problems that you have in a town like this,” she said.
Latty-Farrar, daughter of Andrew Latty and Amanda Farrar, started her term on Sept. 3 and ended her volunteer service earlier this month.
“She did a tremendous job. We are so blessed to have had an ongoing series of just tremendous youth councilors,” Mayor Cathy Clark said.
Each year, a new youth councilor is elected in September as a non-voting member of the city council. They must be between the ages of 15 and 18.
Youth councilors are required to attend the Monday night council meetings, as well as an additional meeting each month with a city councilor.
It was Laura Reid, Latty-Farrar’s English teacher at McNary and former council member, who convinced her to apply for the position.
Latty-Farrar did just that, hoping to enhance her college applications and better understand local politics. Having moved last year from Bronx, New York, Keizer’s small-town community was foreign to the young councilor.
“The thing that surprised me was the kind of problems that the city council has to deal with,” she said.
Latty-Farrar remembered a lady earlier this year who appeared before the council because a beaver was damaging her backyard. This was Latty-Farrar’s first exposure to the smaller but no less important problems that the council often handles.
Clark said that the young councilor was well prepared, well spoken, and a frequent contributor to council conversations. On one occasion, the mayor remembers Latty-Farrar contributing to a hearing about the installation of turf fields at Keizer Rapids Park. According to Clark’s recollection, the young councilor’s comments were met with praise.
Latty-Farrar made special mention of Clark’s Christmas gift to her and the other councilors.
“We all got homemade strawberry and blackberry jam…it was really good,” the young councilor said.
Now on the other side of her term, Latty-Farrar has a newfound confidence in herself.
“I can do a lot more than I thought I could,” she said.
A recipient of the Chemeketa Scholars full-ride scholarship, Latty-Farrar will go on to attend Chemeketa Community College in the fall.
After receiving her associate degree, she wants to attend law school and become a defense lawyer for children of color on the East Coast.
“She’s got a tremendous future,” the mayor said. “She’s got real-world experience that will help her get more out of her college work.”
News tip? Contact reporter Riley Ellis: [email protected].
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