Oak View needs to remain a priority

Of all the community centers in Surf City, the Oak View Community

Center is likely the most vital.

Its visitors are children and teens who are, most often, at less

of an advantage than those who frequent either the Murdy or Edison

community centers.

Yet, it is Oak View’s $140,000 annual funding that was slashed

from the city budget in September -- the duty of running the center

was farmed out to an outside agency.

City leaders in January are expected to finish hashing out a deal

with the Children’s Bureau of Southern California to run the center,

which serves as an after-school haven for the youth of the Oak View

neighborhood.

Sometimes referred to as the “Slater Slums,” this community has

long been troubled by youth gangs and crime. City and school leaders

have focused much attention on this low income area, largely made up

of immigrant families adjusting to a new language and culture, and

there is no reason to stop now.

So it is somewhat troublesome that while the city is prepared to

hand the group a chunk of cash to run the center, at $51,000, it is a

fraction of what is spent there currently.

Although many are grateful that the center has not met the same

fate as the Shipley Nature Center, which was shut down during the

same string of budget sessions, there are those who fear the center

is still in danger of closing.

That is not something that can be allowed to happen. The center

provides a vital service to the children of the neighborhood.

Certainly, the City Council knew this, and that is why it chose to

look for an outside agency to take on the responsibility for the

center.

But as these decisions are made in the coming months, city and

school leaders must continue to pay close attention to this community

and ensure that the children of Huntington Beach are not the ones to

suffer from the city’s budget crunch.