Santa Ana Chamber to host more meetings outside Santa Ana

I just received the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce’s Cityline newspaper. It was full of the usual pablum and half-truths – but the capper was the “Business Events” section. Sure enough, the Chamber is hosting three events outside of Santa Ana. How can that be?

One of the meetings, to be fair, is in conjunction with the Irvine Chamber of Commerce. That event, the “Network Orange County” mixer will be held at Joe’s Garage, in Tustin, on November 14.

The Santa Ana Chamber’s Fall Business Expo will be held at the Doubletree Hotel – in Orange, on November 29. Finally, the Santa Ana Chamber’s “Member Recognition Breakfast” will be held – you guessed it – at the Doubletree in Orange, on December 8. Nice.

You would think that a local Chamber of Commerce would be interested in promoting the city it is supposed to serve. Not so when it comes to the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce.

I also noted that disgraced Santa Ana Planning Commissioner Victoria Betancourt, who famously was flown to Hawaii by developer Mike Harrah after she voted for his One Broadway Project development, has been placed on the Board of Directors of the Chamber’s new High School, Inc. Nice to see one of our least ethical residents rewarded with such a lofty position.

The High School, Inc. project really offends me. The Chamber is promoting the school as a way to develop workers for “high growth industries.” Really? Here are the industries they are targeting: automotive/transportation, construction, healthcare, global business services, manufacturing, and new media. Let’s take a look at each of those.

The domestic auto manufacturing industry is all but dead – indeed domestic manufacturing is almost extinct. Scratch those “high growth industries.” How about healthcare? Yes – a hot sector – for NURSES. Has the Chamber found a way to produce nurses without any college education? Incredible! And likely B.S. How about transportation? Is that a euphemism for “delivery driver?” Aren’t the north county trash drivers striking right now because they can’t get by on $16 an hour? How is this a “high growth industry?” Sounds like a dead end to me. How about “global business services” and “new media?” Very hot! But are private companies looking to hire workers with no college for those sectors? I don’t think so. Finally, the Chamber included construction on their list. Yes – that is a hot sector. But it is rife with low-paid immigrant workers. Project managers can do pretty well – but they too need a college education.

Let’s be honest about High School, Inc. It is an attempt to create a ready pool of workers for low pay jobs with no future. I think Mike Metzler, the president of the Santa Ana Chamber, is really trying to creat workers for his members – the jobs he is really trying to fill are: car salesmen; delivery drivers; hospital janitors; copy clerks; and receptionists. Don’t be fooled folks – this project is not what we are being sold. The board of directors for High School, Inc. is a Who’s Who of Chamber insiders – it is NOT an independent group at all.

What we really need to do in Santa Ana is exactly what trustee John Palacio mentioned at the last candidate’s forum – teach English – graduate students – involve parents – and increase our expectations. We need to send our children to college and help them to develop real careers that will pay well. Sure, some of them won’t go to college – but the misguided High School, Inc. will not, as it is currenty designed, make much of a difference. It is nothing more than a shell game concocted by a Chamber that cannot even manage to hold its functions in the city it purports to serve. Shameful. I hope I am wrong – but school to work projects are self-serving and generally without merit. I don’t see how this one will be any different.