Is our All-American City now Gangland Central?

Back in 1998 Santa Maria was awarded the All-American City designation. This award is given to communities whose citizens "work together to identify and tackle community-wide challenges and achieve uncommon results."

Interesting terminolgy for something that's nothing more than a marketing tool. Nonetheless, then-Mayor Abel Maldonado pushed for the designation, since he more than likely viewed it as a feather in his cap while on his way to bigger and better things for himself.

That's right, soon after, he got himself elected the the California State Assembly for this district. After watching him and seeing him speak, I'm still amazed he got any votes. Oh well.

Moving on, it's important to mention that a mere eight years prior to this award, mail carrier-cum-mayor George Hobbs announced that Santa Maria had a "Mexican problem." His claim was that "immigrants were destroying Santa Maria's neighborhoods by crowding into rental houses, drinking beer outdoors and urinating in yards." Additionally, "they kept junk cars all over the place and were draining the state's social and medical programs." Despite this racist rant, Hobbs was re-elected mayor in 1992. I guess people have short memories.

Not surprisingly, it turned out that the bigger "Mexican problem" in town was that this faction was unable to come together to mount a concerted effort to oust him as mayor. Meetings were held, opinions were aired, pontificating occurred along with the requisite number of Letters to the Editor. Unfortunately, because everything got bogged down due to disagreements over who the leader was going to be, nothing productive happened.

So, here we are in 2011, and while the city might still have the All-American designation, We've got another big problem. We're living with big city style gangland killings. On December 8th, 24 year old gang member Samyr Ceballos was shot to death by the police who were there to arrest him. Perhaps if he hadn't pulled a gun, he'd have only lost one Christmas instead of losing his life. Then on December 9th, another gang member, 32 year old Alberto Diaz Jr. was stabbed to death. Last August, Maria DeJesus Martinez was shot to death by her gang-affiliated soon to be ex-husband.

Considering that violent crimes in Santa Maria have almost doubled since 1999, the question is, "Why"?

What city-wide programs, beginning in grade schools, has been pushed? What has been put in place to help the obviously overworked and overwhelmed parents? It's painfully obvious that education is the key here, preferably to both parent and child. 

What has been done by the city council and other "movers and shakers" to combat this problem? When I say "movers and shakers" I mean someone other than me. I have a big mouth, but that's all I have. Perhaps someone more important could get the ball rolling. 

Despite the naysayers, it just might be true that "it takes a village to raise a child." Sometimes the parents just aren't up to the task. Lack of parenting skills can oftentimes create criminals, other times it creates non-productive members of society. Surely I'm not alone in this belief.

I know this first hand. I have an aunt who was such poor mother material that her children got the short shrift, and as a result, her grandchildren got the shaft. How could her children be effective parents when they didn't learn anything from her? Think about it.

We must all come to terms with the fact that something terrible is happening to our youth when they feel that their only option is joining a gang. Somewhere along the line they lose their way, their hope, their self-esteem. Something must be done, otherwise those neglected and abused children could one day grow up to prey on the very people who ignored their plight in their formative years.