By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–The newest members selected for the Helena Teen Council program have wasted no time getting started, as they conducted a mock city council meeting on Monday, Oct. 26 at Helena City Hall.

New members and ambassadors were recently recognized at the Helena City Council meeting where they were selected based on various criteria.

Ninth and 10th graders who become a part of the Helena Teen Council organization experience interaction with key government speakers with both local and state governments, learn what goes into running a city, organize beneficial projects, get their Give Me 5 hours, start building a resume and become a stronger leader in the community.

On Monday, Oct. 26 the Helena Teen Council members became familiar with their own local government as they received advice on the inner workings of how the city of Helena runs from Helena Councilmen Mike Jones and Hal Woodman as well as Helena Councilwoman Leslie Bartlett.

The first part of the meeting consisted of Jones, Woodman and Bartlett each answering questions about their time served on the Helena City Council ranging from what’s the most stressful part to what is your favorite thing about being a council member?

“I think the best part about it is getting to know the people in the city and finding out what their passion is,” said Bartlett. “I can tell you that every person who comes to the city council for an issue or problem they’re passionate about that. One of our jobs is to look at that and we have to make decisions based on the city of Helena as a whole.”

The second part of the mock council session consisted of the teen council members splitting into two groups and coming up with possible solutions to a problem.

The problem presented was that neighbors were complaining about a business playing music too loud and late into the night.

The students debated on proposing a possible ordinance to limit the amount of time the loud music could be played.

When the mock council meeting began, Jones acted as an angry business owner while Kylie Woodman pretended to be an upset mom who couldn’t get her kids to bed because of the loud music.

The teen council members heard both sides of the argument and ultimately decided to table their decision to make a decision on the matter.

The teen council members were praised by Jones, Woodman and Bartlett for how they handled the problem and how they conducted the mock city council meeting.