Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua finally offered a glimpse at one of his campaign ideas, with this comment that was posted today on Facebook ( I am posting it verbatim):
We are exchanging ideas wit voters concerned that the current mayor isn’t working with the school district to create greater opportunity for our youth.
What the heck is he talking about? Why is Amezcua attacking Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido on education of all things?
Don’t forget that Amezcua QUIT the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Board of Education. And, as we exposed here, it is likely that he quit because he broke the law by running for the RSCCD’s Area 1 even though he really lived in Area 3.
Our city is struggling to find ways to close our massive budget hole, and Amezcua now wants Pulido to expand his duties to include education?
And what does Amezcua mean by “greater opportunity for youth?”
The reality is that even though our city is broke, good things have indeed been happening that have had a positive impact on our youth.
Let’s take a walk through our city’s website and annotate some of these accomplishments:
- The City has invested heavily in our community centers. Click here to see a list of them. Our community centers are currently hosting dozens of summer programs that you can read about by clicking here. The Jerome Center was recently renovated. You can read about the renovation by clicking here. Our Parks and Rec Agency Director, Gerardo Mouet, took over control of our soccer fields and now youth have even more access to them. Click here to read about that. The Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Department is also offering a pretty amazing array of “leisure classes.” Click here to learn more about those. And Mouet followed my advice and changed the Santa Ana Zoo’s free day to the third Sunday of the month. Hundreds of Santa Ana’s kids got to see the Zoo for free today! Click here to read about that.
- How about our Public Libraries? Mouet has acted swiftly to expand our library services since he took over management of our libraries. Click here to see their new website. Note that American History ebooks are now available for FREE to our residents. Mouet also added an extensive online selection of books about animals. And he added a virtual reference library! Services also now include online book clubs! And Mouet is offering a slew of summer programs that you can read about by clicking here. Our libraries are also offering free computer workshops for kids, starting in August. Click here to read about that.
- And while the City has cut back on some City Commissions, the Youth Commission is still active. Click here to read about that.
- Did you know that the Santa Ana Police Department offers dozens of FREE programs, many of them youth-oriented? Click here to read about them. The Santa Ana Police Athletic League also has a vast summer activity program that you can read about by clicking here.
- Our City also promotes events all over town on their Community Calendar, that you can access by clicking here.
- And here is the clincher – our City even offers a “Youth Page” on their website – with dozens of links to all sorts of programs going on in our city. Click here to access the Youth Page.
- Our City also offers help to those looking for work. Click here to see the City’s Work Center Page.
So is Pulido guilty of not offering enough “opportunities for youth?” Not that I can tell. If anything, Amezcua is guilty of slinging empty political B.S. That is becoming the hallmark of his campaign. It is most disturbing.
the city is not doing nothing for our kids and you talk about all these lesiure classes that you have to pay for when people cant afford it and if you want to make a event you have to go through all this hassle and who needs parks and rec.
anon,
Well, if you want to wallow in negativity and ignore all the info I put up, that is up to you. The fact is that even though our city is broke they are still putting on a lot of events for our kids – and that is a fact. As you will note in my post, we are working with many other organizations to serve our community.
Can we do more? In the future, I hope so. Right now we have to do something about the budget hole our city is in. In the meantime, do what you can to help. Spend money here in Santa Ana. Hire locals. Encourage folks to visit our city and spend money here. Together we can make tomorrow better for all of us.
Your graphic states “education” your info talks about parks and rec and the PD and other community events. I would like to hear from both candidates specifics and not generalities about how to improve the education of children in Santa Ana and how to not have overcrowded classrooms. Why ios no one addressing the fact that the military is showing children in middle school how to march instead of participating in physical education activities?
Ed,
Maybe that is because Pulido is our Mayor – he is NOT a member of our school board. Our city tries to help, as I illustrated, with civic programs but ultimately these complaints about education need to be directed at the school board members, not our Council Members.
Obviously all incumbents need to get the boot off the SAUSD School Board. We need new blood at the SAUSD. There are several other districts that serve our people, but the SAUSD serves the majority of our residents.