Santa Ana Issues

By Jim Walker

Santa Ana issues demand real leadership for their successful resolution, along with the much greater participation by the citizens that will have to live with these decisions.

GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY: No more blacked out City Council Meetings. Put a stop to destroying historic government records.

COMMUNITY ORIENTED GOVERNMENT: Neighborhood Associations should be the nursery for developing City leadership and grassroots knowledge of local needs + not after you get on City Council.

CRIME: Double our "policing force" without added expense by bringing back community volunteers, like it has been done in other cities, so we have "more feet on the beat" and officers are freed up.

GRAFFITI: We need to stop spending millions of dollars on band-aids that fail to cover up a citywide scourge that is actually costing us countless millions of dollars in lost property values and potential business.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: For years the City of Santa Ana staff have been preparing for disaster in it's many forms. Now we need to prepare citizens to be self-reliant when the time comes with "Neighborhood Safety Nets".

ROAD REPAIR: Fix the worst roads + first!

EDUCATION: "The "New 3-R's" should emphasis Responsibility, Relevancy and Resiliency, and one more "R" for good measure + "Readiness", to learn and teach.

IMAGE: It's about time that Santa Ana, "The Heart of The OC" and "The Nation's Youth Capital" start getting the respect it deserves. We all know that respect starts at home and we need to start expecting our leadership to make us proud.