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<br />Orozco, Norma <br />From:Houston, Nicole <br />Sent:Thursday, June 18, 2020 1:03 PM <br />To:eComment_Forwarding <br />Subject:FW: A Plea <br /> <br /> <br />From: Orbane \[mailto:orbanegallegos@gmail.com\] <br />Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 9:28 PM <br />To: Pulido, Miguel <MPulido@santa-ana.org>; Sarmiento, Vicente <VSarmiento@santa-ana.org>; Penaloza, David <br /><DPenaloza@santa-ana.org>; Solorio, Jose <JSolorio@santa-ana.org>; Bacerra, Phil <pbacerra@santa-ana.org>; Villegas, <br />Juan <JVillegas@santa-ana.org>; Mendoza, Nelida <nmendoza@santa-ana.org> <br />Subject: A Plea <br /> <br />Dear Members of the City Council, <br />I apologize if I do not know the proper way of addressing you all; I am just a regular lifelong resident of Santa <br />Ana with so much love for this city. I grew up as the son of teenage parents, one being an immigrant. I along <br />with my two siblings would play in front of our teeny tiny 2 bedroom home mixing dirt and water to make mud <br />toys that we'd harden in the sun. It was awesome. Poor. But awesome. I remember one day looking out of the <br />window because we heard a loud bang. We saw my dad run out the door and pull a man off the street who had <br />been shot and was left bleeding all over himself. I must have been about 5 or 6 years old. I am 33 now. <br /> <br />In all those years, I have to say that aside from a bit of gentrification in downtown Santa Ana, not much else has <br />changed. I watched Irvine, Tustin, and Costa Mesa become more and more polished and so much more <br />distinguished, while Santa Ana seems to have been left in the dust. I have seen a vast increase in homeless <br />people pouring in from other cities. I have seen so many more drug transactions happening everywhere by <br />people on bikes or in parked cars. The streets that need fixing seem to never be fixed on a wide scale. And now <br />as a homeowner, I have a sewer lateral from the sidewalk to the street that is ready to burst because that's just <br />how old our infrastructure is. How did we get here? How are we not where the neighboring cities are at? Are <br />people from Santa Ana inherently inferior? Where is the disconnect? <br /> <br />Tomorrow is going to be a monumental day for the city of Santa Ana. For its people. For the legacy you all <br />leave behind. The item of the city budget 75A voted on tomorrow will one day be our history. We and everyone <br />to come will be looking back some day soon. Seeing all of the civil unrest in the wake of George Floyd has <br />caused the whole world to reflect upon itself. Countries all over the world have now taken pause to search their <br />interior and ask, "how will I conduct myself going forward?" It does not matter what you have been in the past. <br />This moment is the only relevant moment. You can change in an instant. So when that item of the city budget is <br />in front of you, I beg that you take a moment and search deeply within yourself. What will be etched into the <br />history of Santa Ana about you? Will they include you into the ones who served only to fill the status quo and <br />prolong a system that has not allowed our city to rise even to the state of our neighboring cities? Or will it say <br />these are the ones who truly changed the course of Santa Ana and set the foundation for one of the most <br />wonderful cities this nation has ever known? <br /> <br />Tomorrow I am asking that you be brave for us. Every union has their leader. You, the City Council are ours. <br />A leader is meant to amplify the members, not oppress or dictate them. Tomorrow be brave for us. We will take <br />care of you. We will fight for you. We will vote for you. But you must show courage to amplify what so many <br />have said for too many years. Let it weigh heavily upon you when I say this, give our future a chance. <br />1 <br /> <br />