Identifying the Issues, Tackling Them at the Community Level

Now that 2000 is upon us, what do you consider the most pressing issues facing the San Fernando Valley?

Valley Voices asked several community leaders to consider the question in light of their work and areas of expertise.

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JAMES ALLEN

Geography professor, Cal State Northridge; co-author, “The Ethnic Quilt: Population Diversity in Southern California”

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There are several population trends currently underway that will change the racial makeup of the Valley in the coming years.

I expect to see a higher proportion of Asians and Latinos moving into the central and West Valley. Also, there will be an increase in the middle-class black population that will be dispersed throughout the central and West Valley. As the black population disperses across the Valley, we are going to see a reduction in black and white tension. There are some people who are uncomfortable who are leaving, but I see this acceptance as a long-term trend.

The East Valley will become less diverse as more Latinos settle there and older whites sell their homes and leave. This could change the way politicians court voters. It may be more tempting for them to appeal to issues of concern to ethnic minorities rather than issues such as street maintenance and schools.

Right now, in this era of economic prosperity, ethnic tensions are down because there is less competition for jobs. When there is less economic competition, there is less enmity between groups.

In [this] new year, there will be a greater disparity among personal incomes. Immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador will earn lower incomes, while more highly educated, English-speaking residents will earn far higher incomes. I think education becomes a real key because the dropout rate adds to the low-skilled labor force. A poorly trained labor force will not be able to compete in the available high-skilled jobs, and that will add to the economic disparity that separates the quite wealthy people from the poor.

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MARIO MATUTE

Director, Pacoima Workforce Development Initiative of the Valley Economic Development Center

The challenge the San Fernando Valley will continue to face in 2000 is high unemployment. Our organization just completed a six-month study with Los Angeles Urban Funders [a consortium of foundations], and we found that the northeast Valley has a 37% unemployment rate compared to the national rate of 4%.

We have found 17 obstacles to employment in Pacoima, with the most severe being lack of adequate English skills and lack of employment history.

Other obstacles to employment include child care, transportation, substance abuse, immigration issues, health problems, domestic violence, and dental and vision problems. People need to get ready for jobs. If they don’t speak the language they have to enroll in ESL [English as a second language] classes or get into job training programs to learn a skill. Otherwise, they will remain in the same socioeconomic condition.

But at the same time, they need the opportunity. You can be prepared, but if there is no job, there is nothing you can do. I try to encourage companies to look for employees from within the neighborhoods. [They] have a social responsibility to [provide] an opportunity for our people. Most Americans are enjoying the wealth of this nation, but there are pockets of people in this nation who go to sleep with nothing to eat, and Pacoima is one of these places.

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LAURA CASAS FRIER

Member, Comision Femenil of the San Fernando Valley, which promotes educational opportunities for young Latinas

The emphasis of our organization in the coming year will be on ensuring quality education for Latinas. If we don’t emphasize that we will be a permanent underclass.

There is a movement toward improving education for our children. Parents are becoming more involved. I also see a lot of positive things happening at San Fernando High School. A lot of rich capitalists and entrepreneurs are giving money to communities for education, and that’s exciting. I’m trying to remain positive for the future, but we have a long way to go.

Comision Femenil has a mentoring program to give young Latinas a broader view of their career options. We do a conference once a year where we invite Latina judges, lawyers, engineers and those in high-tech careers to come and talk to the girls about higher education.

There are issues that Latinas must overcome to get a good education: I think we need to talk about access to birth control and the role of the Catholic church. There is sexism in the culture where, historically, girls have not been pushed toward education. The Latino community has its share of alcoholism, which feeds domestic violence. If a woman is educated, she has a better chance of escaping domestic violence.

A child’s mind is our greatest resource. If you don’t feed that, you will have a population that is far behind in the millennium.

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JAMES KINSEY

Executive director, Valley Cultural Center

Getting the word out that the arts are a significant aspect of life in the Valley will be the biggest challenge in the coming year.

There is a perception that there is no cultural life in the Valley, but this year will mark the beginning of increased exposure of arts and culture in the Valley. Many people here don’t want to drive over the hill for cultural events. Now we are bringing those types of things into the Valley for them.

We need to expose young minds to culture and the arts so that they won’t be one-sided or have blinders on as they grow older. To do this, we will continue our artist-in-residence programs at local schools, where we pay the salaries of professional artists and place them in schools for a 14-week term. We also will continue our Monday morning concert series at the Madrid Theatre in Canoga Park, where schoolchildren can hear different kinds of music and ask questions of the artists. We also will continue to provide scholarship funding to high school and college students.

Fund-raising will be critical in the coming year. We are in competition with other organizations that are also chasing the same dollars. In the future, there needs to be a collaboration among groups on similar projects where we combine our efforts and make one big splash in the Valley.

We are working to boost our endowment program. We never know when the wells of corporate donations will run dry. It is important that we have a large endowment so that we can survive without those corporate donations. We are riding an [economic] high right now, but the second that dries up, our organization could dry up as well.

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WILLIAM “BLINKY” RODRIGUEZ

Executive director, Communities in Schools youth violence prevention program

There is a great need to continue to work with youth in promoting peace in the community. There is so much violence among them because we are living in a time where the boundaries have been extended and there is little accountability among parents, media, advertising and public institutions.

Communities also lack the resources to provide opportunities for young people. It befuddles me that our great country is flourishing, yet investments are not being made in community-based programs or in the public schools.

This year, we are going to give it an all-out effort to reduce gang activity and violence. It is going to take everyone to help to turn the tide. There is a role for everyone to play. We are going to have to stand up if we want to have systematic change. We cannot be quick to write off these young guys, because in reality they are young men with potential.

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WILLIAM HULING

President, San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council

I see a stronger coming together of people of different faiths in the coming year.

When the shooting at the North Valley Jewish Community Center occurred, people of many different religions rose up as one and cried in outrage. There was hope that everyone was focusing in on harmony and peace.

I look back at the early 20th century and I see that when it began we had institutions that dispensed hatred, like the Ku Klux Klan. The government and the courts also supported exclusionary acts against minority groups. It wasn’t until the ‘60s that we began to dismantle those practices.

Now we are dealing with individuals who perpetrate acts of hatred: students going into high schools and getting shot, gays beaten for sport, blacks dragged behind trucks, a child going into a day-care center and being targeted. Love thy brother is the only viable weapon to do away with this kind of fear-based, unexpected violence.

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RAUL GODINEZ

Former mayor, San Fernando; former 7th District candidate for Los Angeles City Council

In the city of San Fernando, officials will have to balance increased economic development with the impact these projects will have on residents.

Officials will have to make sure that the community gets involved to make sure that their concerns are addressed early on. Often community input happens after the fact, and city leaders are put in the position of trying to extract concessions from developers who have already developed their properties. In this new era, these development issues will have to be handled properly. If so, they will be well-received projects.

In recent years, the Latino residents have become more and more involved in politics.

When I ran for Los Angeles City Council, there was a record turnout among Latino voters, who are generally considered low-propensity voters. In my campaign, I focused on the high-propensity voter, and I think that is what accounted for my poor showing.

Los Angeles elected officials and community leaders should recognize this momentum among Latino voters. They should spend time educating voters about the 2000 census, reapportionment, redistricting and redevelopment zones.

A lot of folks are historically afraid of getting involved in government. They must learn to understand the importance of these issues and how they relate to improved services in their communities. That is a big educational challenge that will have to take place in the coming year.