Bronxville

To celebrate International Day of the Youth (Saturday, August 12), candidate and former County legislator Ruth Walter initiated a Youth Summit on Instagram Live to answer questions from youth in her district.

Joining the event were Paul Presendieu, a longtime youth and environmental activist from New Rochelle and Raghav Joshi, a student organizer from Rye Brook whose work with Voters of Tomorrow has energized young voters.

Walter took questions that had been submitted beforehand regarding priorities of young people in the district, including gun violence prevention, reducing single-use plastics, employment opportunities, reproductive rights, and flooding. Walter’s platform addresses these issues at the County level as well as advocating at state and federal levels for programs and policies.

Presendieu said, “I’ve known Ruth Walter for many years, and her commitment to the environment, specifically ways that local residents can get involved in cleaning their rivers, purchasing energy from renewable resources and reducing single-use plastics has been a driving force of her campaigns and her service in office.”

Joshi said, “Without a doubt, Gen Z voters have played a role in national politics, and now local politics is coming into focus for these motivated voters. If the turnout at this virtual event is any indication, our youth are paying attention. They all might not be old enough to vote, but they can influence their family members who can!”

Walter said, “I look forward to continuing to work with young people as they train to campaign—and win—elections this year and beyond. My opponent is frankly too far-right to appeal to Gen Z voters, and their votes will be key to my victory this November 7th.”

If you want to submit questions:  tinyurl.com/Youth4Ruth or learn more about Ruth at electruthwalter.com.

Youth Summit can be found on Walter’s Instagram page @Elect_RuthWalter