The City Council voted 4-2 not to impose a curfew on teenagers. Councilmembers Andrew Feurtado and Angelica Perez supported the curfew. Well, not really the City Council.
Students from Fairfax High School spent part of the day on Tuesday, April 26 shadowing members of the city government. The students, who are all in a government class at the school, each expressed an interest in participating in the day, said Cassandra Sheehan, 17 who was "Registrar of Voters" for the day.
Most student just indicated a general interest in participating, and had positions assigned to them. The positions typically fit the people’s personalities, Cassandra said.
The students knew ahead of time that they would be discussing the idea of a teen curfew and had to do research papers on the project. They followed such disparate city government officials as councilmembers, the police chief, the director of finance and the director of information Technology.
The students were surprised by what they learned. Dalia Mortada, 17, one of the "councilmembers" said she was surprised to learn about the impact that local government can have on their daily lives, and they didn’t even get into a discussion on property tax rates. "If the council actually passed a curfew, it would affect me," Dalia said.
"The city just does a lot more with daily life," said Priya Dandawate, 17, the "director of finance" for the day.
Others were surprised to discover just how many services the city provides. "I didn’t know that the city was doing so much in terms of technology," said Mike Liarakos, 18, Tuesday's "director of information technology."
Many students took their jobs to heart. Even after the day had ended, Cassandra was walking around the room and trying to register people to vote.
THE MOCK COUNCIL deliberations started, as it would in the real council, with a staff report. Co-Chief of Police Nick Simons, 18, reported on statistical surveys from other local jurisdictions. He noted that Prince William County had imposed a curfew on its juveniles after a spike in juvenile crime, but that the City of Fairfax was not comparable. "Unlike Prince William County, we have not seen that increase in the City of Fairfax," Simons said.
"We are not seeing them commit crimes during that time," agreed Co-Chief of Police Brandon Nash, 18. Nash further stated that his department’s time could better be spent on enforcing other laws.
Councilmember Andrew Feurtado, 18, was the main proponent of the bill. The curfew would have applied to people under 16, beginning at 1 a.m. on weeknights and 2 a.m. on weekends.
Feurtado’s proposal would have created exemptions for people with what he said were legitimate reasons to be out such as work, church-related activities or early-morning sports practices. He proposed that the penalty for violating curfew would be community service hours.
Councilmember Zach Robinson, 17, disagreed. "I believe it is a parent’s choice to impose a curfew on their children," he said.
Dalia noted the police chief’s report and questioned the need for the legislation. "It’s obvious that Fairfax City does not have a problem with juvenile crimes," she said.
Councilmember Elizabeth Deornellas, 18, said that all the exceptions would end up targeting a very narrow group. "Obviously, there are flaws in the law," she said.
Feurtado defended his proposal, arguing that if the people violating curfew are already engaged in criminal activity, an additional penalty is not wrong. "What’s wrong with punishing criminals more?" he asked.
The council amended the proposal to include only individuals up to age 14. The amendment passed on a 5-1 vote with Zach opposed.
Even after the proposal was amended, however, the measure did not pass.