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Every year the City of Santa Ana goes through a lengthy process to determine how to allocate federal “Community Development Block Grant,” or “CDBG” money. This year was no different. But check out where this money went, according to the City of Santa Ana:
- Santa Ana Library tutoring program – $200,000
- SAPD Helicopter – $600,000
- SAPD Project Pride – $152,000
- Community Seniors home meals – $30K
- Community Senior Service, Congregate – $30K
Santa Ana is the youngest city in Orange County, per capita. But most of the CDBG money went to the police department and to seniors. Do you think seniors vote in Santa Ana? Hmmm….
To be fair, the money for the Library and for Project Pride does target our youth. However, ultimately, almost 60% of the CDBG money was used to buy an SAPD helicopter.
Here is what the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has to say about their CDBG grants:
The CDBG program works to ensure decent affordable housing, to provide services to the most vulnerable in our communities, and to create jobs through the expansion and retention of businesses. CDBG is an important tool for helping local governments tackle serious challenges facing their communities. The CDBG program has made a difference in the lives of millions of people and their communities across the Nation.
Considering this statement, am I the only one who is wondering why so much of Santa Ana’s CDBG money was spent on a helicopter? Shouldn’t that be paid for out of the SAPD budget? Or did they waste too much money on overtime and lawsuits this year?
So how do other area cities spend their CDBG money? Anaheim has not yet announced their grants, but they have this to say about how they distribute CDBG funds, “Funds local community development activities such as affordable housing, anti-poverty programs, infrastructure development, and jobs for low- and moderate-income persons. ”
How about Westminster? Click here to read their 2009 CDBG report. Or take a look at the graphic above. Interesting how they found so many good ways to spend THEIR CDBG money.
How about Long Beach? Here is how they spend their CDBG money:
- Acquisition of real property
- Relocation and demolition
- Rehabilitation of residential and non-residential structures
- Construction of public facilities and improvements, such as water and sewer facilities, streets, neighborhood centers, and the conversion of school buildings for eligible purposes
- Public services, within certain limits
- Activities relating to energy conservation and renewable energy resources
- Provision of assistance to profit-motivated businesses to carry out economic development and job creation/retention activities
Is it just me or does something stink in Santa Ana – again?
C’mon Art, who doesn’t want to play with a shiny new helicopter? That sounds so much more fun than sewer repairs and energy conservation.
You’re absolutely right, Art. A group of self-serving scoundrels oblivious to the needs of the people they’re supposed to serve.
Santa Ana’s population density is 4.6 per housing unit, the highest of any American city over 50,000. (By contrast, New York’s is 2.8, and Los Angeles’s density is 2.6 persons per housing unit.)
http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/44160
The highest urban population density goes for children, too, with precious little space for them to play, either at 6, or 16 yrs old. A good article describing the problem:
Santa Ana, Parkland Play a Mean Game of Hide-and-seek
The city is far below nation’s 50 largest in parkland acres per person.
By Jennifer Delson, Times Staff Writer . November 24,2005
http://www.csisports.org/pdf/GPHideandSeek11-24-05.pdf
Doesn’t project pride run the SAPD explorer program? does money form that pay hourly officers to run that program? that bring it up to 75%.
Here’s the kicker….SAPD gets 50% of the city budget!!!!
What does that mean?
Compared to cities of the same size, lets say San Diego, Anaheim, Sacramento or Oakland, they tend to share in 32-43% of the city budget. Only in Santa Ana does it sky rocket to 50%.
The SAPD is and continues to be a big political force in the city, ask Michelle Martinez.
The CDBG money is but a small example of influence from the SAPD. The city council tried to sneak that one by and blame the current economic situation. But truth is they tried to get one over on us. They don’t respect and us and have to answer to the political power w/ the most influence and it is not its citizens.
SAHS Teacher,
I did not know that about the density rates. Wow.
Jennifer was such a great reporter. She is now working at a non profit if memory serves correct. I wish her well in her new endeavor.
While I agree that is a whopping price tag for a helicopter, the City of Los Angeles has the second largest fleet of police aircraft in the US and New York City has seven helicopters.
#5,
The question you have to ask is how did the Cities of Los Angeles and New York pay for those copters? My guess is that it did not involve CDBG grants.
#5
Actually Santa Ana owns no helicopters. The helicopter used above SA is actually Costa Mesa’s helicopter. Through an MOU agreement between the two cities the helicopter is “leased” to share a specific number of hours between the two cities.
#5 why compare Santa Ana w/ NYC & LA. It just doesn’t make sense. Back to the budget issue where SAPD takes more up than the budget of cities its same size I a WHOPPING discrepancy.
The SAPD gets $123,596,850 out of a $244,714,000 General budget. Its not 50% but 50.5% couldnt they pay for the helicopter out of that?
Anaheim runs at 40%
San Diego 34%
Sacramento 32%
Now stop looking at the shiny helicopters from NYC and LA. Or that we share a helicopter w/ costa mesa and compare these numbers.
Anaheim with a smaller police budget than Santa Ana is able to manage better:
– protects it’s similar to Santa Ana population size
– Protects it’s similar to Santa Ana demographic population.
– Protects a larger geographical area.
– Protects those at sports and entertainment events aside from it’s static population.
-Protects and manages over 10 million yearly tourists to it’s city.
Santa Ana with a higher budget only has to deal with the similar demographic and population size as Anaheim and can’t.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH SANTA ANA ??????????????
Dr. Lomeli,
Great point! There is a rotten center to this corruption and it is Santa Ana City Manager Dave Ream – and all of his henchmen.
Miguel Pulido and the other electeds are symptoms of the disease, but Ream is the source of the outbreak.
Art,
I forgot to add this to the above list.
– Anaheim with a smaller budget than Santa Ana, has more Police Officers on their payroll than Santa Ana has on theirs.
Here’s the thing. The PD always gets that money from the CDBG fund. They budget is overblown and then they dip into the CDBG. It’s horrific. The council, ream and police understand that nobody will do nothing about it. There is no respect because this blog and the people of santa ana are apathetic. The politicians dont have to worry about the citizens, only where they get contributions come from.
#13,
I agree with most of your comment, but I don’t know how you can say that this blog is apathetic. We amongst the only consistent critics of the Ream and Pulido cabal. The only other blog in town that works hard on this issue is the OC Weekly’s Navel Gazing blog.
And I even ran for the Santa Ana City Council last year!
But yes, many of our voters don’t vote or are uninformed. Pulido takes advantage of this and he and his council allies lie to the voters time after time. Last year they actually sent out mailers claiming that “Santa Ana is the safest city in Orange County.” What a load of crap!
There is no leadership from the police chief. He’s rarely even seen, and other than handing out badges to new officers, few even know who he is. Disgusting! Another retirement is long overdue.
#7
So are you saying the $600,000 is for leasing a helicopter??? Did Santa Ana buy one or not?
#8
I was referring to #2’s post about population density, that’s why I brought up NY and LA.
If you check CDBG records, you will find that the police always get a big chunk of it. I believe the new pd headquarters was built on CDBG funds. This year they straight out stole it from the non-profits.
The reason I find this blog apathetic is because it doesn’t catch the peoples imagination. There is no push to move or organize from the work done here. We have groups of people on both sides of the political sphere have a B#@$ fest. The writing back and forth is enough political action for most here. So for me, no change or move to change equals apathy. I do find the blog entertaining and amusing.
#17,
Well, I have always tried to be entertaining and amusing.
I don’t know what else honestly we can do. Our job as a blog is to inform and to provoke, and to do it in an entertaining fashion. But activism? That needs to come from the community.
The sad thing about Santa Ana is that so many of our “community leaders” have been compromised by Pulido. So there is a leadership vacuum.
All we can do is keep outing the disastrous and corrupt actions of our Mayor and City Manager. The rest is up to the people of Santa Ana. They are the ones who keep voting for these bastards, or who don’t vote at all.
#16
Unless they bought a helicopter this year yes I’m saying the money is for leasing. If you try and go back to find CDBG allotments for the helicopter “program” only a few of the council’s meetings are on line. In one year I believe the number was about $240,000 but in a later year the number was only $20,000..it makes no sense.