SR borough welcomes first junior council member
SLIPPERY ROCK — The young people of Slippery Rock now will have representation on the borough’s council, thanks to 18-year-old Benjamin Uber.
Uber, the first junior council member in the borough’s history, was sworn in by Mayor Jondavid Longo during the Tuesday, Feb. 6, council meeting.
While not an elected official, Uber will be expected to attend monthly council meetings and participate in discussions as a representative of the community’s youths.
“I’m just honored that you would consider me for this position,” Uber said after taking his oath. “I will do my best to represent young people of Slippery Rock.”
The junior council member will not have a vote, but will “have input” during council sessions, said borough manager Christian Laskey.
“He can act and speak like any other council member,” Laskey said. “Unfortunately, he won’t have a vote.”
Uber’s political journey began in January, when he responded to a flyer from the borough seeking a high school student to join the council. Uber is a home-schooled junior.
“I saw a lack of youth engaging in the community,” Uber said. “And I wanted to see more of that, so what better way to do that than to get involved myself.”
Council member Alexandra Tuten said she was excited to have Uber sit on the council.
“When I ran for office, I said, I wanted to be a voice for the children,” Tuten said. “So this is a very proud day for me. It’s taken a while, but I’m so thrilled to have our junior councilman.”
When he’s not representing the children of Slippery Rock, Uber said he enjoys basketball, reading and cars.
Uber said while he doesn’t have an agenda as of yet, he is looking forward to helping with VillageFest.
As far as having a future in politics, Uber said he’s not planning on making it a career.
“I don’t want to do politics as a job,” Uber said. “But being in politics and serving my county, I think could be in my future.”
