“An annual black history parade (in Santa Ana) that has grown over the past 30 years to include more than 100 entries is being canceled by organizers for the first time because of a lack of funds,” according to the O.C. Register.
Lack of funds? “Organizers recently nixed the procession because they failed to raise the $50,000 to $60,000 needed for police security, cleanup and other overhead costs associated with staging a quality parade, said Helen Shipp, who started the parade with eight entries in 1979.”
So the truth is that the City of Santa Ana drove this parade out of business with exorbitant police fees.
The good news is that the cultural fair that accompanies the parade is still on. Click on the graphic above for the event details.
None of this comes as any surprise to me. Last year, during the Santa Ana City Council elections, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and his “team” of Council Members Claudia Alvarez, Vince Sarmiento and Carlos Bustamante got up and walked out early during the O.C. NAACP Candidates Forum. They clearly don’t give a damn about Orange County’s black residents.
The parade, which has historically been spearheaded by the Orange County Black Historical Commission, was supposed to be held this Saturday and include floats, a school band competition and appearances by elected officials and community group members.
Are you saying that the police fees for THIS year’s parade are higher than LAST year’s parade? Are you saying that such a hike was implemented, and specifically implemented to drive the parade out? Do you have any proof of this? Or is this just another opportunity for you to race bait.
If the fees are not higher, then why, oh why, is this anything more than an organization struggling, like all the rest, in a crappy economy?
Do you see that reference to “cleanup” and “other” costs? It figures you’d dishonestly only mention the police costs.
Is it fate?
Instead of bright exciting parade, showing off school bands, floats, and community pride, we get a gloomy rainy day.
Its a simple case of economics. There’s no money to fund the parade, because the police chief needs the $$$ to pay his buddy overtime…
All is not lost. We have begun working on an innovative fundraising idea so that the parade will be held next year.
How did the cultural affair finally turn out?