Youth idea progressing in Naperville

The idea of organizing a new youth council or task force in Naperville is moving forward in at least one way, Mayor Steve Chirico said.

KidsMatter, a nonprofit organization that helps kids make positive choices, has reached out to the city to discuss starting a leadership team among the student liaisons who serve on the city's boards and commissions.

"This is an exciting new program they're going to initiate as a result of things that we discussed," Chirico said.

The council last month talked about establishing a new way for young people to get involved and raise their voices after seeing so many involved in protests about the death in police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Thomas Armstrong, a Naperville resident an activist in the civil rights movement as a Freedom Rider in the 1960s, asked the city to seek "youth ideas and not dwell exclusively within adults."

"The city council's plan to hear youth voices is long overdue," Armstrong said.