Contact: Cassie Fannin, Director of Communications, cassie.fannin@snoco.org
This week the Snohomish County Council welcomed our first ever class of Legislative Pages. This program is newly established in 2026, accepting 2 students per Council district to join their councilmember on the county campus for a week to learn about county government, meet people from all over the county departments and elected offices, and get hands-on experience drafting ordinances and participating in mock hearings.
Council Chair Megan Dun said “I am proud that council could offer a Page Program this year to introduce high school students to the important work of County government and our council. All the students worked hard and gained valuable insight into the role of councilmembers. They had excellent ideas for policy improvements around pedestrian safety, our budget deficit, youth sports and human services. We look forward to continuing this program next year and following the careers of these dynamic students!”
The council office worked in conjunction with Snohomish County schools and home school programs to advertise this program for 14–17-year-old students. Selected students coordinated with their teachers to accommodate a week out of school to join us on campus for this immersive experience.
“I am impressed with the quality of students in this year’s inaugural program. Hopefully, the information these students gleaned about County government can be shared with other students, neighbors, friends and family,” added Council Vice-Chair Sam Low.
These students worked extremely hard to understand county government, and to learn how to propose and write policy with the council’s legislative analyst team. The week was comprised of spending a “day-in-the-life” with their councilmember, department presentations from all over the county, video presentations on Robert’s Rules of Order, legal overview with our Prosecuting Attorney’s office, and ordinance writing. The legislative pages each selected a policy and developed a mock ordinance to that effect. The week culminated with a mock hearing where each page had the opportunity to propose their ordinance.
“The inaugural County Legislative Page Program was a great success. The students were engaged, curious, and insightful. I’m thankful to the students who stepped up to engage with local government and I’m also grateful for the staff who made it happen,” said Councilmember Nate Nehring.
Councilmember Jared Mead added “I started my career in public service through a Legislative Internship program at the state level and I’m grateful to now be in a position to help lead the effort to create this program at the county level. I hope the students in our inaugural class found this opportunity inspiring and look back on this week as both fun and productive. Congratulations to all the Pages who graduated today and a huge thank you to our council staff, independently elected officials, and department leaders who made this experience possible for them.”
“It’s heartening to see young people engaged and interested in government. I think they will walk away from this knowing their voices matter,” said Councilmember Strom Peterson.
The Snohomish County Council are incredibly grateful to this trailblazing group of legislative pages as they kicked this program off the ground.
