2026 'If I Were Mayor' Contest Winners

This is an annual contest sponsored by the Oregon Mayors Association (OMA) where students in grades 4-12 from all over Oregon share their creative and inspirational ideas of what their city would look like if they were mayor.

Lake Oswego received over 60 creative and interesting entries. While not every entry could be selected as a winner, each was informative and helpful in understanding what is important to those who participated and their peers.

After considering all entries, first, second and third place winners were selected in the following categories:

  • Posters – Grades 4 and 5
  • Essays – Grades 6 through 8
  • Digital Media - Grades 9 through 12

This year, we also included Honorable Mentions in the Poster and Essay categories.

Poster Category

Zaki Taylor – 1st Place

Zaki’s artistic and detailed poster includes illustrations, photographs and maps which allow people to better visualize his goals. These goals include:  
  • Installing cooling stations in City parks to help protect the public during extreme heat. Having a place to cool down also allows people to experience our public spaces while playing sports.
  • Creating a walking map which showcases fall colors or spring blooms as well as local businesses. This plan encourages people to get outdoors and supports local businesses. 
  • Encouraging kids to become involved in politics by organizing a Kid's City Council. As a forum to hear new ideas, this Council would give kids in the community an opportunity to see how their local government runs and to discuss topics important to them with community leaders.
  • Zaki also focuses on the need for more sidewalks and bike lanes, especially near schools.
As a 1st place winner, Zaki was also entered in the Oregon Mayors Association's statewide contest for a chance to win up to $500. We are very happy to announce that Zaki placed 1st in OMA's statewide contest. Congratulations!

Jacob Plett – 2nd Place

Jacob took 2nd place in the Poster (grades 4-5) category.
 
With use of illustrations and clear written communication, Jacob shared two main goals that he would pursue if he was mayor.
  • First, a new mall! This new mall - located in a 250 ft high tower - would have wonderful shops and outlets, an observation deck for those who would like to view the lake instead of shop, and a glass-dome elevator.
  • Second, Jacob focused on the need for more sidewalks in neighborhoods.

Archie Parker – 3rd Place

Archie’s well-organized and thoughtful poster illustrated that he would:
  • Support public safety by adding crosswalks and making crossing flags available
  • Work with an arborist to support and encourage people to trim trees in order to protect homes
  • Support outdoor activities so that kids can have fun and not ruin their eyesight by looking at screens
  • Build food banks because everyone needs help sometimes

Colin Sun – Honorable Mention

Colin’s clear and concise poster earned Honorable Mention in the Poster (grades 4-5) category.
Colin’s poster focuses on the importance of a 3-day weekend. He points out that implementing a 3-day weekend would:
  • Provide more time to exercise and more time for rest and relaxation
  • Allow for better focus for kids and more preparation time for teachers

Essay Category

Clara Watson – 1st Place

As a 1st place winner, Clara was also entered in the Oregon Mayors Association's statewide contest for a chance to win up to $500. We are very happy to announce that Clara placed 2nd in OMA's statewide contest. Congratulations!
 
Clara demonstrates the importance of talking with and listening to members of the community to better understand their concerns and ideas. In preparation for her essay, Clara interviewed staff from the City's Fire Department and spent time talking with people in Lake Oswego. Clara’s well-crafted and organized essay addressed what she heard from these discussions, including:
  • Building a better Library that would include would include separate children’s, tween’s and teen’s sections, music practice rooms with soundproof walls, a cafe, local art on display, comfy chairs, and a lot more books.
  • Protecting the environment by making the city more bike friendly, and working with the City's transportation department to achieve this.
  • Placing a therapy or trained dog at each fire station for Lake Oswego Fire staff. In addition to providing comfort to fire staff, these fire dogs could go to schools with the firefighters to help teach kids about fire safety.

Lyla Cooley – 2nd Place

Lyla’s approach was a bit different, focusing on one innovative and attainable idea – a “Mend & Lend” program.  
 
The “Mend & Lend” program would build on the Library's "Library of Things" program. People could bring items that need small repairs to the Library and volunteers would fix them, if possible. Once fixed, people choose to keep their item or donate it so others can check it out. The program would be run by volunteers -adults who enjoy fixing things, retired professionals, or even local business owners, and high school students who are required to complete volunteer hours. In addition to reducing waste and saving money, students would learn valuable skills. Together, skilled adults and students could make this program successful and help bring different people together.
 
To gage interest in her idea, Lyla surveyed 85 Lake Oswego residents, asking five simple questions. Overall the response was positive, with 97% saying that the program is a good idea and that they would participate.

Grace Maljai – 3rd Place

With clear organization and compelling writing, Grace’s opening and closing paragraphs clearly summarized her focus as mayor – bringing youth together with the adults and elders to make Lake Oswego a more connected and thriving community. The changes that she would make as mayor include: 
  • Bringing a free trolley system to our town – which would help people of all ages, but especially elders and young children, who can't drive on their own. Grace also discuss how this would be funded.
  • Encouraging children from the ages 10-15 to volunteer in local Lake Oswego businesses - allowing children to gain valuable work experience while supporting businesses
  • Introduce a Kids Market similar to a ordinary Sunday market, but where kids run it all on their own. This will help kids grow independence by running their own stand and help with their creativity making it beautiful and unique.

Keenan McGhee – Honorable Mention

In his essay, Keenan quickly points out that he recognizes that the mayor does not have absolute power and that his suggestions have to fit within the budget. With these restrictions in mind, Keenan focuses on pedestrian and traffic safety:
  • Sidewalk improvement by removing bumps caused by tree roots
  • Adding safety lights at certain crosswalks
  • Cutting plants on the corners of the roads so bikers and drivers can see better around corners
Keenan goes into detail about the cost of each of these goals.

Digital Media Presentations

Vedant Ramakrishnan - 1st Place

Vedant’s succinct, professional-quality video stood out in this category. In his video, Vedant emphasizes his goal of ensuring our city remains a place where opportunity, community and local character continue to thrive. With this clear goal in mind, he provides strategies for achievement. Priorities include:
  • Creating a City-supported tutoring program connecting high school volunteers with elementary school students who need extra help. This program would allow high school students to gain leadership and mentorship experience while ensuring that younger students receive support that can shape their academic future.
  • Protecting the businesses that give Lake Oswego its unique character by proposing strategies to help our local businesses. Strategies include strengthening the collaboration with the Chamber or Commerce and starting a student-led digital marketing program.  
  • With solutions detailed, building a community that is more inclusive, more connected, and more supportive of the people and businesses.
As a 1st place winner, Vedant was also entered in the Oregon Mayors Association's statewide contest for a chance to win up to $500.

 

To everyone who submitted an entry, we appreciate the time you spent presenting your ideas and enjoyed learning your unique perspective. We hope you stay involved as you grow older and consider participating as a Youth Advisor to the City in the future.

 

Photo (left to right): Grace Maljai, Lyla Cooley, Colin Sun, Clara Watson, Keenan McGhee, Mayor Joe Buck, Vedant Ramakrishnan, Zaki Taylor, Archie Parker and Jacob Plett.