IN THE MIX:Making our streets safer for children

Remember that shooting in Costa Mesa at Baker Street and Fairview Road in August? I like living in a basically safe city so anything like that freaks me out.

I wasn’t any more pleased when I read Mayor Allan Mansoor’s comments about the shooting. They included his sentiments that things like job centers, soup kitchens, and social workers are partially responsible for “driving the city down.” I know his is a popular point of view in Orange County, it’s just not one I happen to share. Are we really just supposed to push everyone along until they find another city to be poor in?

I much prefer the response by a group of women in the Mesa del Mar apartment area. They live in the Mission Drive, Mendoza Drive and Valencia Street area and they took the shooting personally, looked outside their windows and said, “We can’t let that happen here.”

Some have lived in that area of Costa Mesa long enough to remember when it was a decent neighborhood that their kids could play in. Now many don’t let their children play outside their homes.

They said they didn’t want their area to turn into another Shalimar—the area around Shalimar Drive and Placentia Avenue in Southwest Costa Mesa.

They didn’t just talk about it, they got moving and started organizing. After sharing their fears with Ryan Sim, a representative of the Orange County Congregation Community Organization, the women started knocking on doors and got enough people interested to hold the first meeting of the Mesa del Mar Local Organizing Committee.

That group is now part of the 20 church- or neighborhood-based organizing committees that comprise the Orange County Congregation Community Organization, which focuses on giving guidance to residents who are seeking empowerment.

Sim plays himself down when he talks to me, like it’s all about the residents or even the organization as a whole.

But I can’t help but be impressed with his dedication to his work. He meets with many different groups around Costa Mesa to find out what their concerns are and walks them through the system to help them find the best path to reach their goals.

In the first meeting of the Mesa del Mar Local Organizing Committee, the 50 people there discussed their concerns, what they think needs to change and what can be done in the short and long run.

Councilwoman Katrina Foley attended and was apparently as impressed as I was when she met the women at the forefront of the clean-up movement.

She said some of the women had lived there so long they had seen the neighborhood change and wanted to see it go back to a safe family community.

She gave the example of one woman who has been working hard to have the best for her children, three of whom have gone off to prestigious colleges, but she is now struggling to just keep her kids and the neighborhood safe.

At the meeting the group discussed the cars that drive too fast through the neighborhood, the people who don’t adhere to “no parking” signs behind the garages, the graffiti and most of all the inability to let their children out to play.

Estela Morales has lived in her apartment on Mission for about 20 years. She has seen her neighborhood turn into a place that Flor Leyva and Maribel Sanchez won’t let their children into.

The group later had a meeting that included about 70 neighbors and members of the police department and city.

“I was grateful that people were listening. It impressed me that people were here to help,” area resident Juana Trejo said.

As a result of the increased communications some street lights and speed limit signs were added and stripes were painted on the roads.

But when the group went before the council seeking funds for things like fence materials, landscaping and graffiti removal, they were told by the council majority that the clean-up project should be taken care of by the private sector.

City attorney Kimberly Hall Barlow heard that and thought, “I’m a member of the private sector.”

She just stepped in and decided to help get things going.

Unfortunately, apartment managers and property owners aren’t always quick to take care of their tenants’ concerns so she said the city staff members recommended to the Costa Mesa Community Foundation that they work with individuals, churches and local businesses to get donations to pay for supplies like landscaping materials, fencing, paint and other necessities.

Foley said the clean-up day will also include improvements to the façade at the Mesa del Mar entrance.

Trejo, Leyva, Sanchez and Morales said they know that one clean-up day will not solve their problems. They just hope it will be the beginning of a change for the better.

“We want people to see the difference they can make,” Morales said.

Trejo said she hoped the clean-up day would continue.

The women also said they want the change to go more than surface deep. They are adamant that the community needs a center that offers tutoring for students and activities for older kids.

“The police can’t be here all the time,” Trejo said. “We need activities to get kids to take part in healthy alternatives.”

Not only is this clean-up day and the community action behind it a good thing, but Foley also has an idea that will keep the positive changes coming. Her goal is to have the day turn into an annual event that will take place in different neighborhoods around the city. It will not only be in redevelopment zones like the Neighbor to Neighbor program, but instead will take place in any neighborhood that needs it.

By the way, Hall Barlow said they could still use more volunteers and donations of materials. She said some construction workers volunteering to help would be a nice bonus.