Attendees at the Villa Grove city council meetings may wonder who Clayton Marlatt is, and how someone so young sits on the city council.

Marlatt is one of two high school students who sit on the council as Advisory members. Marlatt is also the second person in the state to fill that seat.

The program was dreamt up by Mayor Ron Hunt in 2004, and Villa Grove was headed toward being the first city in Illinois to create a program that would appoint a local high school student to its council, to get input from its youth, and to get them engaged in government. According to hunt, Villa Grove ended up being the second city in Illinois to adopt this policy.

“Clayton has been a real asset to the council. We always paid attention to his input,” said Hunt. “I think we’ve all been surprised at his level of interest and participation in the process.”

Marlatt joined the council in November 2004 after being approached by Villa Grove High School principal Mary Pritchard. “I had read about the city doing this, and I was interested in doing it but I hadn’t told anyone that I was. I accepted when asked me if I was interested,” Marlatt said. “Now some of my friends call me The Alderman.”

“I heard about this idea for the first time at a Rotary meeting when Mayor Hunt spoke about his idea,” said high school principal Mary Pritchard. “Shortly after that, we started talking. The council wanted a junior in good standing, strong academically, with a good conduct record and who showed signs of leadership. We agreed whoever was chosen needed to be a good representative of Villa Grove.”

“We encouraged Clayton when he came home and told us that he’d been asked to do this,” said his parents Kevin and Carol Marlatt, themselves both 1976 graduates of Villa Grove high school.

“This has been a great experience for Clayton,” said Carol. “It’s really made him aware of what goes on in government, and helped be a lot less shy since he had to deal with people on issues affecting the city.” Kevin added “I’m really glad he had this opportunity.”

Marlatt said he has learned a lot from his tenure on the council. “One of them is what not to say,” he said with a laugh. “Seriously, I learned a lot about how government works, and how complicated it can be. It seems like there are new rules and regulations constantly coming at a city, making it more and more complex.”

Marlatt has also been a fairly serious student. He is a member of the National Honor Society and Villa Grove’s Science Club. He was part of a three-person team from the high school to enter the annual Rube Goldberg Design Contest in 2006 at the University of Illinois, and a member of the varsity golf team. “Clayton spent a lot of time on this project, and worked hard on the team getting it right,” said Marlatt’s physics teacher Alissa Cohorst. “It was a great working with him for the two months we put into it.”

Marlatt’s other passion is golf, which he started playing as a freshman. “I’ve coached Clayton all four years, and he’s been great to work with,” said his coach John Schweigart. “His peers listen to him, and I think he’s mature beyond his years.”

Zach Burnett will be stepping into Clayton’s shoes this fall, but has been attending the meetings and participating since the fall of 2005. “Clayton helped us with our decision on Zach, and Zach will help us pick his replacement,” said Pritchard.

Marlatt has been admitted to the University of Illinois Institute of Aviation and plans on becoming a commercial airline pilot. “Who knows, in a few years I might be back in Villa Grove and running for city council.” When asked about aspirations for higher office he responded “No way, I don’t see me as a career politician.”