The City of Hinesville is bringing back its Youth Council.

Eleven of the 12 members were sworn in during a ceremony last Thursday at city council chambers, with Liberty County Chief Magistrate Judge Michael McGirt administering their oaths of office.

Judge McGirt commended the teenagers for “stepping up to the plate of leadership.”

“It’s not easy – it’s hard,” he said. “Keep the willingness to serve because the future is yours. So keep being the leaders within your classes, your peer groups, your homes, because it’s needed.”

Mayor Karl Riles said the city has shown its commitment to developing its youth by creating a position of youth services coordinator. The city tapped Erin Hendricks for the spot.

“We couldn’t do this without everybody pulling in the same direction,” the mayor said, “and this council is really strong on providing for our youth, making sure we put a full effort into youth services. One of the things was hiring Erin Hendricks. One thing we recognized is that youth services had to be someone’s full-time job.”

Council member Jason Floyd fostered the creation of the Youth Council, which was on a hiatus for a year.

“Thank you for standing up, thank you for being willing to serve and I have no doubt you will make a difference,” he told the Youth Council members. “The City of Hinesville is proud of you, this council is proud of you.”

More than 50 young people applied, and the youth council advisory committee whittled that number down to around 30 before selecting the final 12. Serving on the youth council are Kennedy Bell, Nathaniel Bryant III, Vicky Foday-Kapka, Saniya Garner, Genesis Gentry-Kinyua, Yacine Janneh, Ja’Nessa Jones, Jack Lamina, Vincent Shepherd, A’Breya Simmons, Shan Tripathy and Terrence White.

City Manager Ryan Arnold said he looked forward to the work the youth council members produce.

“Thank you mayor and council for supporting this initiative and I’m excited to have it back up off the ground again,” he said.