Press Releases
City of Gonzales Youth Council Members Selected for 2022-2023 School Year
2022-2023 GYC (not all members pictured) accepting legistlative proclamation
Fresh on the heels of the City of Gonzales receiving the esteemed 2022 Helen Putnam Award for Excellence for the Gonzales Youth Council's Mental Health Service Action Project the city announced the appointment of the 2022-2023 Gonzales Youth Council (GYC).
Nineteen youth have been selected to serve on the GYC and include Youth Commissioners Sherlyn Flores and Luke Neagle; GYC Ambassadors Valeria Tinoco, Jozelyn Reyes-Vargas, Aliyah Castillo; and GYC Members Odalis Garcia, Joziah Uribe-Lopez, Anixia Davila, Betsy Preciado, Gabriel Rosas, Ernesto Santos, Alejandra Pinon Ruiz, Emily Mendez, Lizbeth de Leon - Santos, Vianney Martinez-Valdez, Edgar Teodoro-Saavedra, Angela Madrigal, Judith Valeria Zarate and Valeria Cardenas Pacheco. The 2022-2023 GYC have chosen to continue focusing on mental health as their service action project and will also begin a new project, pedestrian traffic safety.
The GYC is a youth leadership and development program sponsored by the City of Gonzales with support from the Gonzales Unified School District (GUSD). The GYC is comprised of youth from 9th through 12th grades and is chaired by the two Youth Commissioners. Each year the Youth Commissioners interview all youth who submit applications and select the members for the Youth Council.
The GYC program was created in 2013 to give a greater voice to youth and to provide a robust structure under which teenagers can actively participate in the community and its institutions. Youth Commissioners have non-voting seats at the City Council and the School Board, and they serve as a liaison between the Youth Council, City Council and GUSD Board. They attend city council and school board meetings on behalf of the GYC and make presentations.
The GYC program provides youth civic engagement opportunities, leadership training, and a sustainable/long-term learning environment by connecting youth directly with elected and executive officials throughout the city. During the year the GYC provide input into the policies and programs adopted and implemented by the city and/or the school district. The GYC members review and analyze information, engage in discussions and advocacy, make recommendations pertaining to matters that impact youth, and lead a community service action project that contributes to the betterment of the community.
Service action projects the GYC has been involved with in the past include testifying before the City Council on proposals of cannabis cultivation and manufacturing within the city-limits, the development of a social host ordinance to restrict teen consumption of alcohol that was ultimately approved by the city council in 2017, and most recently their service action project focused on mental health resources for youth in the community.
About City of Gonzales
The city of Gonzales, California is located in Monterey County. The quaint and culturally diverse community of approximately 9,000 people is in the heart of the Salinas Valley’s agricultural and wine region. Gonzales is an established regional leader in agricultural-technology and innovation, environmental awareness and sustainable practices. Gonzales is home to companies such as HealthySoil, which manufactures products to improve agricultural crop production; Converted Organics, a natural fertilizer company; Taylor Farms, a fresh vegetable production facility, Mann Packing/Del Monte Fresh, a leading supplier of fresh cut vegetables; Ramsay Highlander, an innovator, designer and manufacturer of technologically-advanced harvesting equipment; Papé Equipment Handling, Braga Fresh, Green Valley Farm Supply, Tessemae’s, American Bioscience, Caraccioli Cellars, and Constellation Brands, an international producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits.