A new seat for youth: Betzy Espinoza helps usher in Wenatchee’s Junior City Council

WENATCHEE — The Wenatchee City Council on Thursday formally created its first Junior City Council (JCC), voting unanimously to confirm the inaugural slate of student members under Resolution 2025-36. The meeting was held at the Wenatchee Valley Senior Center.

Only one of the newly appointed teens was able to attend in person, Betzy Espinoza, a 15-year-old sophomore at Wenatchee High School. Espinoza received a round of applause as councilmembers welcomed the group and noted that the full roster will be invited to a future meeting.

The Junior City Council was conceived by councilmembers Charlie Atkinson and Mayra Navarro Gomez as a way to bring youth voices into local decision-making and civic life. Mayor Mike Poirier and councilmembers Jose Cuevas, Chelsea Ewer, Linda Herald, and Travis Hornby were present; Top Rojanasthien was excused, still abroad with Wenatchee’s Misawa, Japan sister-city delegation.

After the vote, Espinoza said she learned about the opening through a link her father sent from the local news and decided to apply because she “likes going out there and showing some leadership — not just learning for myself, but letting others learn from me.” She brings a deepening resume of civic experience: Her time in Olympia as a page for Rep. Mike Steele (R-Chelan); four years on student council at her former charter public school; testimony in support of charter-school funding and special-education legislation; and service as president of her school’s Technology Student Association.

Espinoza said Councilmember Navarro Gomez phoned to tell her she’d been selected. She said the JCC will include seven members drawn from local high-school students; meetings are expected to be held in the City Council chambers at City Hall. She said she’s looking forward to meeting the rest of the cohort and getting to work.

The council’s vote makes the teen members “official,” turning months of recruiting and screening into a standing forum for youth to learn public process, advise city leaders, and help shape projects that affect young people, from parks and streets to arts, transit and public safety. For Wenatchee, the launch of the JCC also extends a broader trend across the valley of nonprofits and public bodies building identity, connection and resilience by pulling residents — including teens — closer to the work of community.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media