Santa Ana Seeks Empowerment

The federal government has dangled a tempting carrot before poverty-stricken cities like Santa Ana: the designation as an “empowerment zone” and $10 million a year for 10 years to help erase some of that poverty.

The Housing and Urban Development department also has been smart in putting cities seeking the money on notice that they must gather community support for their plans on how to use the funds.

Santa Ana now has concluded 30 community meetings and workshops as it prepares its 150-page application for submission to Washington later this year. Announcements of the winning cities will come at the end of the year.

Last month, Santa Ana drew community and business leaders together to brainstorm over a game modeled on Monopoly. The question: how to spend $10 million. Some put the play money on child care and affordable housing programs. Those were good choices.

But so were family counseling and parent education. And what about training welfare recipients to find jobs? And what of improving education so students can learn not just word processing on computers but how to design machines and buildings, the sort of skills many businesses are seeking in job applicants?

Santa Ana officials said after two months of meetings they are likely to emphasize creating jobs, training unskilled workers and increasing educational opportunities for residents in the proposed zone. Much of the area included would be in the downtown and southeast area of Santa Ana.

Washington said 15 cities are competing for the designation, including several in California. Several years ago, Los Angeles sought the designation but was passed over in favor of areas of Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore and New York. Federal officials said Los Angeles’ application was vague and incomplete.

But Los Angeles reapplied and was awarded a grant, a lesson in persistence that Santa Ana should heed if it is not successful this time. The application process has helped the city to involve various communities in planning for the future. That sort of listening to diverse groups is needed for a city to prosper. Teamwork can help outline the shape of Santa Ana in the years ahead.