< Youth Leadership >

NIC Presiding Officers at 57th
ML/C, Sacramento

One of the important facets of the Youth and Government Program is the opportunity for participants to serve in leadership positions throughout the program. In the Model Legislature/Court we have two types of leadership Positions: Appointed and Elected.

The most prestigious positions available are the elected officers. Officers are chosen after relatively formal candidates' debates at the Training and Elections Conferences, and immediately begin running the official sessions of the Model Legislature and Court. In addition to overseeing and conducting the operations of the program, Elected Officers are often called upon to represent Youth and Government to various groups, including elected state officials.

Officers of the Sophomore Forum have much the same job descriptions as their counterparts in the Junior/Senior program. Please be advised that candidates for office must adhere to all deadlines or be disqualified. Delegates wishing to run for office should speak with their lead delegation advisor regarding procedures, forms, and deadlines (all found in the Advisor Manual.) Online forms require submission of an advisor consent note through the mail, to be received at the published deadline

APPOINTED LEADERSHIP

Leadership roles for our first conference of the program year, T&E 1, are selected by staff based on information from the T&E I Conference Leadership Application Forms. Assembly Speakers, Speaker Pro Tems and Committee Chairs are picked on their prior Youth and Government experience and their school and civic background. Delegations may send in as many applications as they want for these positions, but are encouraged to select only those youth who exhibit above average leadership skills.

At the second Training and Elections Conference (January) staff in the different program areas interview and select leadership for their respective programs. These include:

COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Because it is one of the most powerful positions in the program many delegates want to apply for Committee Chair. There are usually twenty four committee chairs selected by the Committees staff, led this year by Oren Rothenberg.. Each delegation is allowed to submit two nominations. Oren and his staff (Kim Wierenga, Waheed Baqai, Ben Gonzales, and Natalie Boltz) use the information on the Committee Chair Nomination Form and a personal interview to make their selections at the T&E I Conference. Committee Chairs are taught to lead delegates through the committee process using a precise set of committee rules and parliamentary procedures. Chairs are given the power to set the docket for their committee, deciding which bills will be heard first. This gives bills a better chance for advancement for full passage. Because of the extensive interview/training process, delegates who apply for Committee Chair may not apply for any other leadership position.

JUDICIAL PROGRAM
The Judicial Program offers numerous leadership slots based upon applications and interviews. The most prestigious of these are the Supreme Court Justices and Attorneys who have had prior Model Legislature/Court experience and work under the supervision of Dave Wright and Brian Sanger. Five justices and four attorneys work with the Chief Justice and the Attorney General on the Supreme Court case. YMCAs are not limited to the number of delegates that they may nominate for Supreme Court. Scott Jelensky handles the Judicial Review Program which involves 12 delegates who are selected in an interview process.

Arnold Glasman, Laura Jelensky and Jessi Young work with the Jury Trial Program and select nine participants to work with the elected District Attorney. Delegates may not apply for both Supreme Court and Jury Trial Program as the interview processes conflict. Richard Adams, Lee Simmons and their team of legal experts work with 100-150 delegates in the Appellate Court Program. We also offer a Trial Court experience for anther 175 delegates led by Patrick Lin and Christine Long.

PRESS CORPS
Several different editor assignments are chosen by the staff of the Press Corps Program. These include:
Executive Staff: PUBLISHER, General Manager, Business Manager, Art Director, Historian, Publication Editors: Historian, Y&G Daily News Editor In Chief, Sunday Magazine Editor, NIC News Editor, Court Reporter Editor. Other Leadership Positions (chosen at T&E 2) include: News Editor, Opinions Editor, Features/Entertainment Editor, Copy Editor (2 positions), Staff Artist, Production staff. Staff is chosen by application and interview by Stacy Kruse and her adult staff, Valerie Coleman, Jenny Blake, and Jaime Karasick. The interviews and selection for all executive leadership and publication editors will be held at the Training and Elections I Conference. Because of the extensive interview/training process, delegates who apply for Press Leadership may not apply for any other leadership position.

BROADCAST MEDIA (Video)
All positions in the Broadcast Media program are selected via application, interview, and on camera tryout by the Broadcast Media staff led by Jigar Mehta and Ian Dunbar-Hall.. Technical, production, and on air positions are always extremely popular and vigorously contested. Delegations may not assign anyone to this program. Delegates must be assigned elsewhere and will be transferred to Video should they be successful in the interview process. Because of the extensive interview/selection process, delegates who apply for Video leadership positions may not apply for any other leadership position.

Since first impressions are very important, delegates should be encouraged to fill out their applications neatly, clearly, and accurately. Advisors will be asked to sign each form verifying that the information is correct (to the best of their knowledge) and that no frivolous and unimportant information is included. Being "Milk Monitor" in third grade or being a member of "the Naked Skateboarders Drill Corps" or other fictitious organizations is not appropriate and will count against the candidate.

CHAPLAINS
Chaplains are selected at T&E I. Chaplain applicants must posses the maturity to compose and offer invocations and benedictions in public for both youth and adults.

ELECTED OFFICERS

When ever 2000 bright motivated teens participate in a leadership program, the level of competition for the two dozen elected positions is intense. It is essential that you and your delegates read the Qualifications and Duties of Elected Officers for each office and that Nomination Forms are filled out clearly and neatly. In the past we have had several problems with forms being mailed in after the postmark deadline. If you read the disclaimer on each nomination form you will see that only U.S. Post Office postmarks and overnight services such as UPS and Federal Express will suffice as proof of compliance. The Y&G office recommends that the local delegation asks candidates to turn in their forms one week before they are due and that they are checked and signed by the advisor. They then can be taken to the Post Office by either the delegate or the advisor and sent registered or certified with a return receipt requested. All nomination forms require a photo of the candidate to be included. Since these photos are used in Program Schedules and the Commemorative Book, it is important that the picture meets the following guidelines:

Head and shoulders formal photo
Plain white background (no Christmas trees or amusement parks)
Sharp picture in either color or black and white
Males must be dressed in a collared shirt, tie, and sport jacket
Females in business attire

POLICY ON DIGITAL PICTURES: While we do accept digital pictures it is important that they be of the same quality as photos taken with film cameras. Photos with poor resolution will be rejected. Please do not submit photos taken with cell phone cameras.

If the delegate does not have an appropriate picture, it is recommended that they go to a Passport Photo photographer who can provide a picture on short notice. Recently Costco started offering on the spot Passport Photos for about $5 - check it out! Generally speaking the size of the photo is not too important, although it should be at least of wallet size. Delegates need to be warned not to use scotch tape or paper clips to attach their picture to the form. Place picture in a separate envelope. Paper clips dig through the finish of the picture and often make it unusable.

Failure to submit an appropriate photo will result in disqualification.

ELECTION RULES

Elections in the ML/C are either: Convention Style, Electronic Balloting, or Secret Ballot.

Convention Style Elections
At T&E I the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is elected by Convention Style election. Each Delegation is given between 1 and 4 votes based on delegation size. The delegation then caucuses and chooses whom to award its votes to. A delegations votes may not be split up.

The Youth Governor is elected through a series of convention style votes. First delegations meet in a caucus to choose which candidate they wish to endorse. The top five candidates advance to the first election at T&E II. There the delegations caucus and choose whom to awards its votes to. Votes may not be split. The top three vote getters advance to the final election in Sacramento.

Electronic Balloting
Most elections take place by electronic balloting. Each delegate is entitled to one vote per office. Delegates come to the polls where they can log in to the voting computers using passwords which will be assigned when you arrive at the conference.

Secret Balloting
Secret ballots are used in the Houses and NIC for the election of their officers. Each delegate is allowed on vote per office. Ballots will be collected and tallied by hand. Delegates may write in votes if they wish.

ELECTIONS

Youth and Government elects officers at all three conferences.

Officers are sworn in to office at
57th ML/C Leadership Banquet

At T&E I NIC Presiding Commissioners, Pro Tems, Secretary of State, State Legislative Counsel, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Legislative Analyst are elected by secret ballot. A convention style primary election is held at this time for the offices of Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Assembly and the Chief Justice is elected at T&E I in a convention style election (following a secret ballot to select the top three candidates). Sophomore Forum members also elect three of their officers at this conference. The Historian and the Chaplains will be selected by an application process. Each YMCA is encouraged to make a YMCA Banner (like the vertical state banners used in Presidential Elections). Banners help delegates locate their group and add a lot to the ambiance of the event.

At T&E Il we hold our "House" elections. In the Senate and Assembly the Sergeants, Secretary, and Clerks are elected and in the Court the Attorney General, Judicial Review Presiding Justice and the District Attorney are elected. The National Issues Commission (NIC) will select an Administrative Clerk. In the Forum the two top leadership roles, Speaker and Lt. Governor are chosen by the sophomore delegates. Caucus elections are held for Speaker of the Assembly and Lieutenant Governor and depending on the number of candidates a primary convention style election will be held for Youth Governor. At Sacramento the top three candidates for Governor will face off in a secret ballot election.

A Candidate Handbook is sent out before the election.

AFTER THE ELECTION

All elected and appointed officers are asked to arrive in Sacramento the day before the conference. The Y&G staff spend an intensive day of training and group building with the officers. Elected officers, Chaplains, and the Historian are asked to arrive by 10:00 a.m. on the Wednesday before the conference. Elected officers are expected to set a high standard of behavior for the rest of the group to emulate.

Elected officers and cabinet members are ex officio members of all Legislative Committees and the Senate and Assembly. They will be recognized when visiting the chambers when these meetings are in session.

As ex officio members of these bodies, they have the right to ask questions and speak for or against legislation while in committee sessions with the prior consent of the Chair. All requests to speak must be presented to the chair in writing. Elected officers and cabinet members may not speak on bills while in House Sessions. Additionally, elected officers and cabinet members may not vote on any legislation, because they have the opportunity to visit any number of committee/house sessions, they could (theoretically) vote a dozen times for various bills. The only exception is that in the event of a tie, the presiding officer may cast his/her vote to break the deadlock

Please read the material on the Election Time Line, Categories, and Qualifications and Duties. If you have any further questions, please contact the Y&G office.

GOVERNOR'S CABINET

The Youth Governor will accept applications from delegates to serve as Cabinet Members. The five members of the Governor's Cabinet will be selected at T&E 11 and will also arrive in Sacramento on Wednesday for the officer training sessions. One of the cabinet members is designated Chief of Staff.

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