Santa Ana to Get ‘Empowerment Zone’ Largess

Santa Ana today becomes the first community in Orange County--and one of only a handful in California--to win federal designation as an “empowerment zone,” which could reap the city as much as $100 million for job training, education and economic development.

Officials in the county’s largest city hailed the assistance as a major boost in their efforts to improve economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, reduce crime and revitalize the struggling downtown area.

Vice President Al Gore will officially announce the selection of Santa Ana and 19 other communities across the nation today in Washington at a ceremony Santa Ana Mayor Miguel A. Pulido Jr. will attend.

“It’ll make a very strong difference for our community,” Pulido said from Washington late Tuesday night. “This is just an extremely powerful tool to have.”

The empowerment zones were created by President Clinton in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riot to help low-income neighborhoods create jobs, increase educational opportunities, fix crumbling infrastructure and improve the quality of life.

Other cities--including Los Angeles--have used the federal grants to offer tax breaks and loans to businesses that move into an empowerment zone or hire workers who live in the area. Businesses within the zones are also given special considerations in bidding for certain government contracts.

Under the program, Santa Ana will receive up to $10 million a year for the next 10 years if Congress approves the program, as expected, this fall. About $3 million has already been approved for 1999, officials said.

In addition, the city will be allowed to issue about $130 million in tax-exempt bonds over the next 10 years, beginning immediately.

The Santa Ana empowerment zone will cover the historic downtown district as well as neighborhoods in southeast Santa Ana.

“It’s intended to be very much of a job creation and economic stimulus program for lower- and moderate-income communities,” said Alex Sachs, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The city’s unemployment rate is usually the highest in the county, and its schools have struggled to improve chronically low scores on standardized tests.

“These are people who may need job skills assistance and training, as well as social services for residents preparing to be ready for employment,” Sachs added.

The city of 306,000 residents could also use the federal money to build affordable housing as well as fund educational programs and community policing efforts.

Longtime Santa Ana bookstore owner and resident Rueben Martinez urged city officials to place a good chunk of the windfall toward improving education and services for children.

“We need more after-school programs and jobs for kids,” he said. “Let’s work with the poor. Let’s work with the people who need help.”

Pulido said the empowerment zone will be especially beneficial to children and young adults, who will receive improved day care and job-training assistance.

“It’s a multifaceted program,” he said. “It will enable us to create programs to open up children to the world.”

In preparing Santa Ana’s 150-page empowerment zone application, city officials held 30 community meetings and workshops last year, including some featuring a board game called “Empoweropoly.” Modeled after Monopoly, the classic real-estate board game, players were handed $10 million in fake money and told to divvy up the cash among the board’s offerings, which included such welfare-to-work programs, business loans and job training.

Councilman Ted R. Moreno credited Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) with helping push the city’s application through the federal bureaucracy. “I don’t think we would have gotten the money without her,” he said. “She played a big part.”

According to Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines, empowerment zones must have a poverty rate of at least 35%. A family of four is considered to be living at the poverty level if its annual income does not exceed $16,450. Although Los Angeles was initially passed over for empowerment zone designation, the city now administers about $430 million in federal funds for a zone that includes parts of Pacoima, as well as central and south Los Angeles.

Officials said a $10-million annual federal grant will significantly improve Santa Ana’s budget, which totals about $220 million.