Although most of the them aren't even of voting age, eight Armijo High School seniors quizzed the eight Fairfield City Council candidates Thursday night.

Huddled together in the hallway outside the Fairfield City Council Chamber before the forum, the teenagers from Armijo's Computer Academy began to get nervous while thinking about being on local television talking with council candidates.

It wasn't long before the group grew confident about the night and started talking about the need for the youth to be heard. Amanda Ferreira, 17, said events like these help bridge the gap between students and politicians.

She said it didn't make a difference if those asking the questions were old enough to vote.

"When you're 18, you aren't the youth anymore. You're an adult. These questions are what the youth are talking about," Ferreira said. "It taught me a lot. It makes me want to get involved (in politics)."

The students met for a few months among each other and with Fairfield Daily Republic staff to help formulate their questions. The eight candidates were given the questions two weeks ahead of time, and had the chance to answer them Thursday night.

Kimberly Tran, 17, said she probably wouldn't have become involved in the political process were it not for the extra credit, but was happy she participated.

Tran said one unique candidate, 21-year-old Matt Garcia, was in their shoes just four years ago and might be able to field the questions with more experience.

"We can relate to him," Tran said. "He knows what we are talking about."

Danny Bernardini can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
The Reporter 
October 26, 2007