Since becoming mayor of Ithaca, New York, eight years ago, Svante Myrick has been become known for many things, most obviously being a young, black elected public official in upstate New York. By his own admission, some of his policy ideas are gimmicks, like turning the mayor’s designated parking spot into a pocket park. (Take that, greenhouse gases!) Myrick also takes pride in knocking on 30,000 Ithaca doors and interacting with residents on social media, both tactics that go over well in a lakeside college town famous for its hipsters, gorges and hippie vegetarian restaurants.

This month, however, Myrick institutes a new policy that may make waves far beyond Cayuga Lake. On May 1, Ithaca began offering childcare at all city council and commission meetings.

“We don’t think anyone else has done it,” Myrick said.

The 32-year-old mayor doesn’t have children — “not yet” — but after eight years in office, he’s increasingly concerned that so few parents of pre-school and school-aged children are involved in city government.

“[Offering childcare] at meetings is a solution to this problem,” Parshall said. “Despite the mythology of local government being more open to participation, there is a culture of local government that I think tends to shut out participation … The reality is that at a lot of these meetings, it’s a small cast of characters, oftentimes older folks and longtime residents.”

To read the full article by Rebecca Ritzel, click HERE