By Gabbie Burton
Contributing Writer

When Juan Tafolla made history this past November as the youngest ever elected official in Kennett Square history at just 19-years-old and with a record-breaking number of votes, the bar was set to a new high. With his sights set on tackling the borough’s hot-button issues including the NVF site, affordable housing and fire and EMS services, the council member has his work cut out for him.

However heavy the burden of hard work may be, Tafolla doesn’t show it. Instead, his drive and passion easily shine through, showing a dogged determination and sense of clarity that explains his early rise to community leadership.

“I was always interested in having a career in government as my second option, but it didn’t become my full thing that I wanted to do until I was in 10th grade in high school,” Tafolla said. “I talked to my grandpa and uncle. We did a trip to Mexico, and we had a conversation about politics, and it made me realize that I think this is my way to give back to the town that I grew up in and the town that gave us opportunities.”

Tafolla cites his family as a major source of inspiration in his passion for public service.

“I have some family members and family lineage that are in politics and public service,” he said. “I always joke around with people and say it was that gene that was waiting to be activated in me.”

Tafolla, now 20, graduated from Kennett High School in 2024 and has lived in Kennett for almost his entire life, moving from Delaware as an infant. He shared how he feels the community has shaped his views and aspirations.

“I saw the town grow from the 2010s to 2020,” he said. “We had big waves of Hispanic or Latino people, and seeing those two communities work hand by hand, borough wise and in politics, it shows me diversity is valuable and getting to experience that in this town, I think, definitely helps in my career down the line.”

Additionally, Tafolla shared how this perspective and experience in town will help him in his new council role.

“Almost half [the borough’s] population is Hispanic, and being Hispanic on council helps me as well,” he said. “Being here for a while and growing up here, I think it makes me feel closer to our residents.”

Although Tafolla has prior experience with borough council, having served as a junior member of council in his senior year of high school, he is now a month into his new and more official role and is learning to balance his goals and expectations with the reality of serving in local government. Most recently, council unexpectedly faced the recent resignation of two council members and the process of filling the vacancies.

“One member resigned during my first meeting, and we’ll be accepting a second one, so the resignations came as a shock,” he said. “We had amazing candidates and doing the whole vacancy process, I think was surprising to me. I didn’t expect to do that in my first two months on council.”

Expectations and responsibilities

However, Tafolla is not only balancing expectations but balancing responsibilities. On top of his council position, he also works part time as a legal assistant and is in his second year of college at West Chester University, where he is majoring in political science.

“I think a lot of people ask me, ‘How do you manage your schedule?’ I ask myself that, too,” he said. “I'm just good at balancing things. I think it’s just natural for me to balance work, council, school and my personal life.”

In order to do it all, some sacrifices must be made. For Tafolla, that means he doesn’t have the typical, carefree 20-year-old’s college experience.

“Now that I’m a public figure, parties are out of the door,” he said. “I’m probably missing out on something, but I’m happy with what I’m doing. I view it as I'm doing something I like so I think that it's better in my opinion. I think that counterweights the other feeling."

“But we’ll see once I turn 21,” he added with a laugh.

For others his age who similarly have lofty goals and may not mind skipping some parties to achieve their aspirations, Tafolla shared some words of advice.

“I feel that if I can do it, you can do it as well,” he said. “If you work hard for something, you’re most likely to get it. I think I proved that during this race. I was door knocking every day and I really put a lot of time into this, and at the end of the day it ended up going well. Believing in yourself and putting in the hard work pays off.”

While things may look different for Tafolla compared to his peers in college and his peers on council, he feels positive about his first month as a councilmember and is looking forward to all the work to come.

“My first 100 days are going to be getting used to things, seeing how things flow and talking to people,” he said. “It’s been going great right now.”

To contact Staff Writer Gabbie Burton, email [email protected].