Saturday, October 6, 2007

Support the Rebirth of Santa Ana


Over the next couple of weeks, the City will be holding community meetings discussing the much delayed Renaissance Project.

The first of these meetings will be taking place next Thursday, October 11 at 6PM located within the St. Joseph Hospital Church.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, October 25 at 6PM located at the St. Joseph School Parish Hall.

I think it is safe to assume that every one of us moved to this sketchy neighborhood because we all share the belief that there is great potential for this City. Unfortunately, this dream can easily fall apart given Santa Ana's track record and lackluster City management.

Please make time in your schedule to attend these meetings and show your support for a greater Santa Ana (not to mention higher property values).

Below are some links to the City's website if you want more information about the upcoming meetings.

City neighborhood development meeting page
Renaissance Specific Meeting Dates (PDF)

14 comments :

Anonymous said...

Ben,

Have you seen this SA blog before?


http://o-juice.blogspot.com/

Ben Dayhoe said...

Anonymous,

Yes I have, but it makes me angry.

I lose faith in our City 'leaders' every day.

Thank you for sharing the link, I added it to the sidebar of blog links.

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Ben,
I know what you mean. If you have children in the SA public schools you'll know that the incompetence and disservice against the community runs deep.

Next year's November elections will be very important for Santa Ana. Several school board seats as well as city rep seats will be up for election.

Nice site! I love the artists' village concept. I am very much looking forward to the Crosby opening up.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the notification about the meetings, sounds interesting.

As a suggestion, I wouldn't use the word "Ghetto" in flyers since the flyers can get out of our little priviledged complex and the characterization may insult our neighbors.

Elvin

Ben Dayhoe said...

Thank you Anonymous for the compliment on the blog.

I do not have children, but would be afraid to put them into SA public schools being that kids are being shot and stabbed on a weekly basis.

Elvin, thank you for visiting the blog and sharing your thoughts. Posting of comments is the best reward in this thankless quest.

When I used the word "ghetto" in the flyer, I was actually being nice.

Websters dictionary defines "ghetto" as "a quarter of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure".

Using the word ghetto wasn't meant to be a slam, just stating the facts: Santa Ana is the ghetto of Orange County.

But nonetheless, I understand your concerns.

Who knows, if someone outside of this community got there hands on this flyer and visited this site, I would welcome their input and comments as well.

Unknown said...

cool Ben. thanks for clarifying. i don't know orange county too well yet so maybe you're right. still, i've visited some incredibly substandard housing in anaheim - where disney employees scratch to make a living - that would certainly challenge santa ana to the title.

nice job with the blog.

Anonymous said...

Hey...Homeowners meeting tonight Oct 8th at 5:30!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, and by the way, when reading the oc blogspot, keep in mind that a lot of trash gets on it, and the stories are often not investigated nor verified. Not to say there isn't some truth in there, just beware.

Anonymous said...

Ben,
You are doing a great service to your community. Thank you for posting a link to the local community blog. You will need to keep your eye on the political scene if you want to see the positive changes that you desire. One poster cautions you that there are false posts, but you must follow for longer than a post or two to figure out what the problems in SA are.

You made a good choice. You are here in SA and you want to see the city turn positive an support your vision. You will need to be a fighter here in this city, because there is so much corruption and self- enrichment that has been part of the old guard of SA. Best wishes to your vision of a great SA. There are so many of us behind you.

Unknown said...

Board meetings would be super sweet if only they were at a time of the evening that those of us with jobs that have demanding Mondays could make...

The Orange Juice blog seems little more than someone's pre-election launch pad. Maybe a bit of truth here and there but always get both sides and keep your perspective in check, not someone else's.

Anonymous said...

You,

Your advice is solid about getting your opinion from many sources. OJ has been around for a few years. Just last week several city "machine" insiders decided that three of the bloggers should be removed from their appointed commission seats b/c members of the council and the mayor don't like what is posted on the OJ blog.

This strong arm tactic kind of blew up on the people who were pushing for censure. One of the bloggers, Art Pedroza, pushed back pretty hard and not only will NOT resign his commission assignment/s, but will now take on the Ward council member who has been MIA and has not fulfilled promises made.

SA has a lot of dirty politics and it has cost the city a lot in the forms of crumbling infrastructure, taxpayer payouts to cronies, mismanagment of very basic, yet essential services and plans for a better city. Many of the people who have a say in what happens in SA do not actually LIVE in SA, so this lack of commitment results in the shabby condition of the city.

If you live in SA and care about your housing values, I don't see how you can possibly shun learning what you can about who is running things and who would be willing to run things right.

A lot of opinion over there, but also there is a lot of information that can help shed light on what the real priorities are. CURRENTLY are- I should have been clear.

Nice touch of adding the link to OJ, Ben. You might want to mention it over there and see if they return the favor. You have a nice little site here with some good ideas of what to do nearby your flat.

DG said...

I think anything above Irvine is considered ghetto. By south OC residents, anyway.

The city of Stanton should have the proud distinction of being OC's official slum. Although they do have "Adventure City", The poor man's Knott's Berry Farm.

Anonymous said...

think it is safe to assume that every one of us moved to this sketchy neighborhood because we all share the belief that there is great potential for this City. Unfortunately, this dream can easily fall apart given Santa Ana's track record and lackluster City management.

Are you kidding? What about the land and business owners that have been here 50 years plus. Our family has owned land and had a business on said land for over 50 years. This "new" plan changes are status from Industrial to Urban Residential, we LOSE money on our property value.

That is unfair to us.

Ben Dayhoe said...

"Anonymous",
We all appreciate your input and point of view you bring to the table.

But here's the sad truth.

Last time I checked, the quality of life in Santa Ana has gone down in the last 50 years.

Santa Ana once was the shining beacon of Orange County, now it is the shame.

At least twice a week, you can read in the paper about kids killing kids in this City of ours.

When I walk my dog outside, I have to make sure that she doesn't step in broken glass left behind from either the homeless or people who just don't care.

I find it humorous and saddening that we live in a City where our homeless are using our sidewalks, doorways and pathways as restrooms.

Glass etchings and graffiti have been an ongoing problem in this City for years without an end in site. Yet when I attend City meetings, they bring no ideas and NO SOLUTIONS to combat this issue.

Then we have people such as Dave Ream (City Manager), who mind you, have been in office for TWENTY YEARS, who say that they are just starting to come up with "solutions" to "address" this problem.

Ever tried calling the Police on a Friday night? Good luck on getting them to come over unless blood has been shed. This City gets violent on Friday nights if you haven't noticed.

While I understand and respect your concerns about "property value", I do not see how any of the points I listed above can currently be helping your resell value.

Nonetheless, thank you for your thoughts and participation. You bring a unique viewpoint and I am thankful for that.