RIDGEFIELD — A new city of Ridgefield Youth Commission will give young people a chance to influence city policies.

The Ridgefield City Council approved a motion establishing the commission Sept. 25.

“We spend a lot of time talking to adults in the community, getting their input on policy,” Mayor Matt Cole said. “Doing that with students is not only empowering, but it also is going to help create good policy. … They might as well get a chance to contribute because this is their community, too.”

The decision to form a youth commission was born out of the response the city received when it created a position for a student on its parks board in 2024, Cole said. The city appointed Elianna Galvan, then a Ridgefield High School junior, to the board in April.

Ridgefield’s board, modeled in p

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