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What role should Somerville’s young renters – who may not spend more than a few years at a time in the city – play in local politics?

That’s the question a city-affiliated summit this week seeks to address.

The meeting at Workbar Union on Wednesday night, called “Where’s our representation? (And is it our fault?),” is among the first events being offered by a newly rebooted mayor’s advisory group called Young Somerville, which aims to boost involvement of people ages 21-35, who’ve been less-than-active in city politics. Nearly everyone in Somerville elective office is a homeowner.

“The people who are here, even if they’re only here 5-10 years, that’s a good amount of time but they’re not engaged in the political process,” said Emily Hopkins, managing editor at the local magazine Scout Somerville, in an interview. “That’s the issue for me.”

Hopkins, who lives in Allston, wrote a January article on the issue after incumbents dominated the local election in 2015. Her story “inspired” the meeting, according to an event listing.

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Ben Echevarria, executive director for the Somerville-based The Welcome Project, was featured in Hopkins’ story. He’s also among speakers for the Young Somerville meet-up, though he said someone else from Welcome Project will be standing in for him due to a conflict.

Echevarria, who is 41, told Metro he wants to tap Somerville’s young population, many of them passionate about issues and possibly engaged on college campuses. He wants to dispel the idea that just because someone doesn’t have roots in the city, they shouldn’t have a role in shaping it.

Voting for a candidate, or helping them get elected, could propel that person to higher office, or could lead to policy changes that slow the rising cost of rent, or improves schools, he said. Even voting for a candidate who doesn’t win or a cause that doesn’t lead to new policies can change the conversation, or put more pressure on the city to act in the future, he said.

The first step, he said, is to get more millenials to volunteer and see how city services impact people’s lives.