Platform : Wishes for Society: ‘People Come First’

FRED WILLIAMS

Founder and president of Cross Colours Common Ground Foundation.

My first wish is for the local leadership to finally view young men as viable resources to help create the changes that we all deserve. The leadership in (Los Angeles) needs . . . to start cultivating young new leadership.

My second wish is for the city of Los Angeles to help develop some good training programs to help put neglected young men back into the (economic) mainstream. They are too valuable a resource to be untapped. The community’s leaders don’t understand the frustration these young men are going through. Many come from families that have experienced unemployment for years.

My third wish is that revitalization groups such as Rebuild L.A. and city leaders remember the importance of families. by providing funding for grass-roots social service organizations such as the 98th Street Youth. There are literally hundreds of these organizations struggling to deal with our kids with little or no support from the city.

DAVID WELCH

Co-president of Homestead Hospice and Shelter and a director of the West Hollywood Homeless Shelter.

My holiday wish is that “people will come first,” as our President-elect has said, and that they will gain back the dignity they deserve as Americans.

We need to give people on the streets the help they need so they can have the dignity to put their lives together instead of just discarding them.

I wish that people would have their health. Not just people who are struggling with AIDS, but those with cancer also. I wish that our country would make a commitment to find cures. Perhaps we could have socialized medicine, a system that would provide health care to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.

I wish that everyone could have a home--whatever a home means to them.

I wish that the gay and lesbian community would integrate with the heterosexual society and find a common ground so that their sexuality will no longer be an issue. Ideally, the only issue of importance is whether a person is good or bad and whether that person focuses on the well-being of the community.

MICHAEL SALAZAR

Project coordinator, Asian-Pacific Health Care Ventures, a nonprofit health service.

My first holiday wish is for Asians to have better access to health care at county hospitals. Many immigrants in refugee communities have difficulty getting basic medical attention. They are often left sitting and waiting in the county hospitals. I’ve heard horror stories of people who have sat a whole day waiting for a translator.

I wish that other communities had a better understanding of the Asian-Pacific communities. There is a perception that Asian-Americans have no issues that disturb them. People think that all Asian-Americans are rich. Yet, if you look at the figures, they would point to really interesting disparities compared to Anglos or other community populations.

For example, Pacific Islanders have a higher incidence of violent death than African-Americans, (though they have) a very small local population.

My last wish is for communities to have a greater understanding of each other and to pull together and work on specific issues. I think if all the communities did that instead of accusing each other of all the crime or the flight of business from Los Angeles, we’d have a stronger city.

ALEX JACINTO

Attorney, member of the Mexican-American Bar Assn. of Los Angeles.

All I want is a Mexican-American candidate for L. A. mayor who is an independent and not a politician--someone who is able to appeal to enough Bradley, Perot and Jerry Brown supporters to get to the runoffs.

The city has grown and prospered from the toil and sweat of many Mexican-Americans, the largest minority in the city. However, we have not had representation in the mayor’s office. The historical imperative would justify the election of a Mexican-American to the mayor’s position.

Regardless of who wins the mayor’s office, I wish people would start talking to each other and stop being afraid of each other. I wish police would stop beating on people. And, I wish police and public officials would stop lying.

The tenets of our society were based on George Washington not telling a lie about cutting down the cherry tree.

Compiled by Times staff writer George White