Time for tough decisions on the Westside

It is difficult to imagine how anyone could oppose a plan to get

doctors, nurses and basic healthcare where they are needed. But that

is just what is happening on the Westside of Costa Mesa.

A plan is in the works that calls for a 4,800-square-foot health

center at Rea Elementary. By its third year, the center -- a joint

venture by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and the

Children’s Hospital of Orange County -- is expected to handle 9,000

doctor’s visits annually, and CHOC would lease the building from the

district for $12 a year. The laudable mission, supporters at the

district and the hospital say, is to serve Westside children,

regardless of their race, financial situation or legal status,

thereby keeping them healthy and best able to learn.

They hope to have it open by June 2003.

Given the clear need in the area -- where school test scores are

lower than elsewhere in the district, where there are more low-income

families and where more students speak English as a second language

-- it is hard to imagine opposition to such a well-meaning idea.

But it is not impossible. And, for a number of reasons, the

opposition is even understandable.

Central to opponents’ complaints about this project: The Westside

is saddled with all the charities and aid organizations in

Newport-Mesa. Enough is enough, they say. The rest of the community

should share what they see as a burden on their part of town.

The problem with that argument is that the need is on the

Westside; placing a health center, for instance, in Mesa Verde and

providing transportation there would create an unnecessary obstacle

and burden for those seeking help.

That is not to minimize the burden of poverty and under-performing

schools that exists on the Westside. It is an unfortunate truth that,

right now, the Westside needs aid organizations such as Share Our

Selves and Someone Cares Soup Kitchen. But while these charitable

groups do much-needed, important and valuable work, their mission is

limited: to provide basic needs -- healthcare, food, clothing, jobs

and housing.

At some point, efforts on the Westside need to be directed toward

improving the lives of the people who live there and toward

redeveloping rundown areas and shopping centers, as well as just

providing for basic needs.

Simply put: There is no reason to be satisfied with the status

quo. But there is nothing simple about changing it.

City leaders need to begin serious discussions about how to make

improvements, discussion that have been stalled for too long. These

discussions are likely to be difficult and potentially caustic.

Issues of immigration, race, school performance and crime are all

likely topics. But they are issues that cannot and should not be

avoided if the Westside’s future is to be truly addressed. Hard

decisions will have to be made.

One that is immediately necessary is paring down the nearly

80-member Community Redevelopment Action Committee to a manageable

number. Serious, in-depth debates need to take place about the

Westside. Eighty people all trying to be heard will not be able to

accomplish that.

Specific goals need to be set that detail when improvements will

be made so there can be accountability. Businesses that will improve

economic conditions on the Westside need to be started; the area, for

instance could use banks that will loan money to Westside residents

instead of check-cashing companies.

The school district is scheduled to look at the health center plan

again at its Aug. 27 meeting. That date would be a fine one to mark a

new beginning to the Westside debate.