(Photo courtesy of the L.A. Times)
One of the enduring conceits of Santa Ana’s “Team Pulido” and their allies in the “Usual Suspects” is that gang members cannot clean up and lead good lives. When Councilwoman Michele Martinez ran for Mayor this year, against Pulido, her fellow Councilmember, Claudia Alvarez, greatly enjoyed calling Martinez a “drug dealer,” in the present tense, even though Martinez left that life behind many years ago. “Team Pulido,” offers no second chances to anyone – although they gladly did so for “Usual Suspect” Tim Rush after he was busted for white collar crimes related to real estate.
Today’s L.A. Times features a story that serves as a rebuttal to “Team Pulido’s” attitude regarding gang members. The article focuses on a young man named Ramon Maestas, who is trying to leave the gang life behind. He has been offered one last chance – working with Aztecs Rising, “a seasonal fire crew based out of Lincoln Heights that helps gang members start anew.”
The story is amazing. Several of Maestas’ fellow gang members wash out of the program. He does too but he is allowed to come back.
Is there anything more heroic than fighting fires? Maestas actually has a chance to get a permanent job with the U.S. Forestry Service. I hope he makes it.
Here in Santa Ana we have a similar program run by Taller San Jose. They strive to teach troubled young men to become construction workers. It is an amazing program. You may read about it at this link.
Everyone can be a useful human being. Troubled young people need opportunities and support. They don’t get enough of either here in Santa Ana. Kudos to the programs that are helping these young people! Would that we had more of them…
If you are not aware, several of the California State Prisons and two of the California Youth Authority sites (particularly Ventura) have programs where inmates are trained to serve on the firelines along with the California Forestry Service. My son became interested in serving as an inmate firefighter, trained and served as captain on one of the groups and spent almost one month working on the ‘Day’ Fire last year while serving out a three-year sentence. A good number of juvenile offenders that do serve on inmate fire squads do go on to become firefighters. If you watched any of the coverage of the Sylmar, Yorba Linda and Montecito fires you must have noticed all those firefighters setting the ‘backfires’. Those setting the backfires were the ‘grunts’ (as my son calls them)….the inmates.
All someone needs is GANAS…the want, the drive…to change.
It is funny and at the same time painful to hear the message Team Pulido, their supporters,the Police and Fire unions give Santa Ana’s youth in regards to this thread.
There are countless progarms in Santa Ana alone to address these type of urban kids. Those mentioned above undermine all the work the programs do.
The programs say – you have an opportunity with hard work to better yourself.
Those mentioned above say – when you go through the programs and succeed we decision makers will not let you participate in the American Dream.
Remember the groups that funded the mailers calling the counciwoman Martinez a drug dealer and child killer were Santa Ana’s Police and Fire unions.
Los Angeles offers hope to their troubled youth. Los Angeles offers them a positve message relative to their future.
Santa Ana’s Fire and police unions along with Team Pulido offer the opposite message.
This is shameful, it realy is.