Correspondence- #18 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Middleton, Samuel From: Victor D Mendez <vicdmendez@gmail.com> Sent: Monday, March 6, 2023 4:48 PM To: Amezcua, Valerie Cc: Lopez, Jessie; Hernandez, Johnathan; Phan, Thai; Penaloza, David; Bacerra, Phil; Vazquez, Benjamin; eComment Subject: Item#18 - Report on Establishing a Senior Commission Attachments: Staff Report-Senior Citizen Comm.pdf, Screenshot_Delgadillo Reply to Victor Mendez.png I have read the captioned report and attached are my critical annotations to the same. The report is riddled with ageism and outdated beliefs on the needs of the 21st Century older adult. The recommendation to appoint two older adults to the Parks and Recreation Commission as a means to ensure the needs of our citizens aged 62 and older are met is effectively useless and reflects outdated thinking from 25 years ago. Today's older adults are facing numerous challenges in the areas of housing, jobs, economic security and access to needed services. I have heard disturbing reports of my fellow older adults being discriminated against and in my own situation verbally abused by a member of the Santa Ana Police Department and effectively called senile (attached) Additionally, it has been widely reported that due to the near end of food stamp "pandemic" supplements from the Federal Government, older adults are facing a food cliff and the philanthropic community will be hit to capacity. In this respect, regrettably the City Council has failed to hold their City Manager accountable for her commitment to provide relief to older citizens (through the second round of Revive Funding). This commitment was made at the November 16, 2021 Council Meeting. To date, nothing has been done. Yet, nearly two years later, the food security for older citizens is in danger of collapsing. There is also a huge body of evidence that indicates that older adults have greater risk of homelessness than other age groups. All of this suggests that the report was poorly prepared, lacked insight, and mypoic. I request that Council direct staff to write a new revised report that provides substance and is grounded in reality, with a meaningful recommendation to structure participation of older adults who live in Santa Ana.