A civics class with on-the-job training

A few new city council members for Newport Beach met Thursday morning to hash out several important issues.

But there was something different about this meeting. Council debate and public comment lasted a short, combined 90 minutes. The council members had to get back to class ? high school classes, that is.

The mock city council meeting was part of the annual student government day sponsored by the city of Newport Beach. Students from Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor high schools shadowed city officials in different departments and got a glimpse at the nuts and bolts of city operations.

“It just gives them a general awareness of the types of issues that we look at,” Newport Beach Councilman Steve Rosansky said.

Rosansky briefed the student city council members in the chambers before the meeting began. He discussed the three issues of the mock agenda and basic council operations. The students took their seats and voted on the first order of business: choosing a mayor.

While tackling several fictitious issues, including a proposed juvenile curfew extension, the students said they were surprised at all that goes into making decisions that affect an entire city.

“It was really cool to be able to see what goes on to make decisions in our community,” said Kara Jones, a junior at Corona del Mar High School.

Kara and her classmates met with the real chief of police, Bob McDonell, and got a tour of the police station and city jail.

Another group of students spent the morning with the Newport Beach Fire Department, on a lifeguard boat off the Newport Pier and touring a fire station.

“We saw the firefighters and the lifeguards and we respect them a lot more now,” Corona del Mar junior Sarah Vehian said.

In addition to the student city council members, students also played the role of the public, voicing opinions during the public comment portion of the meeting.

The city has been holding the student government day for about 20 years, city recreation manager Sean Levin said. The city works with the youth council to recruit students from local high schools to participate.

The students picked the issues they wanted to discuss at the mock council meeting, Levin said.

“What we really want them to know is how the system works,” Levin said. dpt.19-youth-gov-CPhotoInfoD51R3V0H20060519izhofhncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Newport Beach City Councilman Steve Rosansky looks over the shoulders of Christy Tatchell, left, and Clayton Heiser as he tells them about the mock city council meeting Thursday.