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From left, Palo Alto High School students Rachel Owens, 16, Lucy Nemerov, 17, Miranda Li, 16, Antonia Mou, 16, Michaela Seah, 16, Anna Meyer, 16 and Kate O’Connor, 17, plan community outreach as they strategize their campaign for the Vote 16 petition at the Rinconada Library on July 31, 2019. Photo by Veronica Weber.

Young people have a chance to share their thoughts with state Assembly member Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, at a youth town hall that the California legislator is hosting this week.

The virtual event is set to be held on Zoom this Wednesday from 5-6:30 p.m. Berman represents Assembly District 24, which includes Palo Alto, as well as surrounding cities like Menlo Park, Mountain View and Los Altos.

Participants can ask Berman questions and make comments during the event, as well as submitting them ahead of time through an online form. The assembly member is also asking teenagers and young adults to fill out an online youth priorities survey.

“The votes I take have the greatest lasting impact on young people,” Berman’s introduction to the survey states. “I need your help as I work to represent your best interests in California.”

The questionnaire asks respondents for their opinions on topics such as what the biggest sources of stress are in their lives, their top three concerns for the state and how the pandemic has impacted them. It also asks for bill ideas and how government representatives could better represent young people.

Berman has been behind a number of recent bills signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, including one that phases out sales of gas-powered leaf blowers and other “small off-road engines.” He also wrote a pair of bills the governor signed earlier this month which aim to improve the process for community college students to transfer to four-year universities.

To RSVP for the youth town hall and to fill out the survey, visit a24.asmdc.org/event/20211020-2021-youth-town-hall.

Zoe Morgan joined the Mountain View Voice in 2021, with a focus on covering local schools, youth and families. A Mountain View native, she previously worked as an education reporter at the Palo Alto Weekly...

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