The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - Mayor Walt Gobel said he was very excited to welcome Waitsburg's latest City Council student representative, Emma Philbrook, who was sworn in at the Oct. 16 council meeting. Philbrook is the fourth teen to serve as a Council representative, following Fletcher Baker (2011), Logan Dozier (2012), and Meara Baker (2013).

Philbrook said that she doesn't have a great deal of governing experience but served as student body treasurer her sophomore of high school and has held positions at Girl's State and Youth & Government as well as in her extracurricular activities. She recalls her dad being on city council and spending time in his office in City Hall. "I'm not sure quite what possessed me to apply for the position. But nobody in my grade was interested and I thought it was important for there to be a link between the high school and the city government, so I applied," said Philbrook.

Philbrook said that, in spite of it sounding cliché, she wants to make a difference in the community and realized she wouldn't have much opportunity to do that once she left for college. "In my term as student rep. I'd like to facilitate more open relations between the high school and the Council. The high school population is about one-twelfth of the city population, which makes us a fairly large and largely underrepresented portion of the citizens here. Teenagers don't live in their own little bubble; they use the town's public spaces, patronize its businesses, are affected by its rules and join in its celebrations. I can't vote on the Council, but I can make my opinion heard," she said.