COVINGTON, Ga. — A pitch to create a youth employment program for kids ages 14-18 was denied in a 4-3 vote by the Covington City Council, with concerns of a time crunch.

Council members Charika Davis and Anthony Henderson presented the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) before the council during Monday’s meeting. The two spoke at-length — over 15 minutes — pleading their case for why the SYEP should be implemented this summer and beyond. 

Both council members cited the lack of employment opportunities for young people compared to the rising growth in the city.

“The SYEP ensures they gain experience locally, building loyalty to the community and reducing the brain drain to the larger metro areas,” Davis said. “I can speak to that because I work in Atlanta full time. I would have loved to work here, and if a program like this existed, then I would work full-time locally.”

The pitched SYEP is not the internship program that is geared toward college students that is already implemented by the city. Rather, it would be designed for high school-aged students.

The pair had hoped to implement a pilot program as soon as this summer, with around 20-25 students employed. The program would have seen several directly employed by the city while outsourcing other employees to partnering employers.

Funding for the pilot program would cost the city anywhere from $42,000 to $55,000 for six weeks, according to Davis and Henderson’s presentation. Henderson added that a target enrollment would be set for June — which is just weeks away.

Mayor Fleeta Baggett praised the pair for coming up with the idea. But her concerns dealt with a tight turnaround.

“I love everything about this. I really do,” Baggett said. “The however part is, I don’t see any way to do this in a month. I know what it takes to run a government, and it’s slow.”

Council Member Jared Rutberg agreed with Baggett’s rationale. Citing his experience as a business owner, Rutberg felt that the implementation timeline was too strict.

“I’m going with realism about the three weeks here,” Rutberg said. “If this had been started six months ago, I think we’d be fine… If we’d started three, four months ago, we’d be fine.”

Rutberg doubted that the city could find 20-25 people to participate in the program within a three-week timeline. Council Member Dwayne Turner, however, disagreed, saying he could find 20-25 people.

Budgetary concerns were also brought up as a reason for opposition. Council Member Travis Moore said he’s sat down with the city’s financial team and believes that the city would not have financial flexibility to fund these positions.

Turner also pushed back on that notion, citing the cancellation of the July 4 fireworks show.

“There should be no reason why we’re broke,” Turner said. “We could find money for something in there. That’s just logically.”

The concern of hiring age was also brought up. Both Baggett and Rutberg questioned whether the city could hire anyone under the age of 18. Georgia law allows employers to hire kids as young as 14 years old, albeit with certain restrictions, but government entities can set their own policies through the city charter.

After some considerable discussion, Baggett, Rutberg and Moore all said they were in favor of the idea but repeated their concerns about timeliness and funding concerns.

Following a motion from Davis, the vote was deadlocked 3-3. Baggett broke the tie, voting ‘no’ and denying the motion.

During council comments, Council Member Kim Johnson weighed in on why she chose to vote against the plan.

“My only reason for voting no is the three weeks,” Johnson said. “I think that is something that is much needed and I want to continue to work on that and get that funding in place.”

Henderson, however, expressed his disappointment in the council’s decision to not act immediately. He described the council’s decision as a “pattern,” alluding to the approval to initiate the parent accountability ordinance at the council’s last meeting.

“When it comes to helping people, it’s always a question, ‘Well, we can’t do this. We can’t do that.’ But the moment enforcement comes, it’s 100% on board,” Henderson said. “I just think it’s a shame that we can’t invest into our youth when it’s just [intelligible] on the city. You got people that are willing to partner with us to make this happen, and we still didn’t do it.”