Junior political junkie

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March 4, 2010

Osky teen focused on community, political involvement

By ANDY GOODELL The Oskaloosa Herald Thu Mar 04, 2010, 10:35 AM CST

OSKALOOSA — He’s not old enough to vote, but he’ll talk politics with you all day long.

Charlie Comfort, 17, of Oskaloosa, has a serious interest in all things political.

“It’s very important to be interested at a young age,” said Comfort in a Herald interview Monday night. “That way, when it gets around to the time when you can be involved, you know what the issues are, you know what your stance is, you know who to support and you know how it will affect you.”

In recent weeks, Comfort has been working with the Junior Main Street Program, a division of Oskaloosa’s Main Street office.

Although it’s still just getting started, Comfort said he’s been involved in planning a few community events through Junior Main Street including one that will coincide with Oskaloosa’s annual Art on the Square.

The Junior Main Street program will also partner with the Oskaloosa Middle School’s Peer Helpers and the Oskaloosa High School Student Council, he said. Comfort is currently an at-large member of the OHS Student Council. He ran for their executive board and was elected publicity director.

“We’re working with them to get a few volunteers to help out with events,” explained Comfort.

Comfort is also working with people a bit older than himself, when it comes to the Junior Main Street program. He was first contacted by Karen Hafner and Jon Sullivan at the Oskaloosa Area Chamber and Development Group/Main Street office to lead the Junior Main Street program earlier this year. He said he’ll continue to work closely with Hafner.

In being involved with Junior Main Street, Comfort said he hopes to learn a lot about Oskaloosa as a whole. He said knowing things like the history of his community is extremely important. By knowing this history, Comfort said he will be able to take action on preservation of that history.

“At the high school, you don’t really learn that much about your community,” said Comfort. “I think it’s important that you know about your community and its heritage and everything about it.”

Comfort’s interest in his community and its political ins and outs is nothing new. He has attended as many Oskaloosa City Council meetings as possible since he was in eighth grade.

“I came to one because I was with Peer Helpers and we were wanting to do a walk/run and we wanted to use some city streets, so we had to get permission,” remembered Comfort. “I came and presented with a couple other friends and I was really interested in that after the meeting. I rarely miss one.”

A few months after Comfort started showing up to nearly every city council meeting, he was asked by then City Attorney Randy DeGeest to lead the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of each meeting.

Comfort’s personal politics are no secret.

He isn’t afraid to call himself a “liberal” and can frequently be seen at Oskaloosa School Board and city council meetings sporting a Barack Obama T-shirt.

Oskaloosa City Councilman Aaron Ver Steeg and Comfort can often be seen exchanging opposing political viewpoints in the minutes before each city council meeting. These exchanges are always friendly in nature, of course.

Comfort explained the evolution of his political views by noting how the latest presidential race had a particularly strong influence on him. The race actually lead Comfort to participate as a youth delegate for the Democratic caucuses during the latest election cycle.

“Originally, my parents were Republican, then they sort of switched to being Democrats,” explained Comfort. “As I started to grow up, I grew under the more Democratic influence. I didn’t really like what was going on under the last (presidential) administration and started looking at the candidates for the Democrats, loved what they were thinking, and got involved that way.”

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Herald City Editor Andy Goodell can be reached at news2@oskyherald.com