| SAN BERNARDINO - Everyone from the California Highway Patrol to the nonprofit gang-intervention group Los Padrinos came on board for the second phase of Mayor Pat Morris' Operation Phoenix anti-crime plan. So how about Congress? The answer from Morris: We'll see. Morris appeared Saturday with Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, for a National Day of Citizenship event at the National Orange Show Events Center. They appeared just days after the mayor unveiled the second phase of his Phoenix program. When he made that announcement, Morris said he had put some feelers out to the area's representatives in Washington. But he did not, at the time, have any new federal efforts to announce. Did he get the chance to catch Baca's ear Saturday? "I'll be visiting with him this week," Morris said. The mayor said THAT during his talk talk with Baca he would ask about federal help for both phases of his Phoenix program. The first phase, a year-long program to clean up a 20-block area northeast of downtown, was launched June 10. Morris has also been in contact with the offices of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands. A spokesman for Lewis said that staffers in the congressman's office are working to see if Operation Phoenix would be eligible for U.S. Justice Department grants. Lewis is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "Chairman Lewis and Mayor Morris talk pretty regularly," said Lewis spokesman Jim Specht. "They're old friends and (Morris) has an open line to our office." For his part, Baca said he's doing what he can to fight crime in San Bernardino and surrounding cities. On June 20, he sent out a news release announcing federal funding for a number of programs for at-risk youth. The appropriations included $325,000 for an urban youth at-risk development program to be established at Cal State San Bernardino; $125,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of San Bernardino to develop after-school programs; and $80,000 more for the renovation of the Boys and Girls Club's Delmann Heights facility. And that's only what's already been achieved, Baca said Saturday. Baca said he scheduled what he described as a town hall-style meeting for Friday at the Boys and Girls Club. He plans to meet with a number of religious and service organizations to work on building a safer community. And he said he was familiar with Operation Phoenix. "I think it's got some good ideas," he said. "But we need to look at more." He said he liked the idea of expanding recreational programs at schools, as the second phase of Operation Phoenix does. But he questioned whether security would be adequate and said he'd be looking for federal funding opportunities to help provide such security. He also asked, "How do we bring in the county? Can the county come in and provide the services they provide?" Seven county agencies are already involved in the Operation Phoenix. A few days before his Thursday announcement, Morris was asked about possible federal assistance. "I'm aware that there may be some modest short-term help available from those sources," he said, "but it's clear to me that any long-term solution resides in our being willing to sacrifice as a community and pony up the required resources to do this." Morris has criticized the federal government - though not specific representatives - for failing to pay attention to urban crime while investing itself in foreign wars. A city with one of the nation's highest crime rates could use, it would seem, any help it can get. "There's an old phrase," Morris said, ' "If it is to be, it's up to me.' This is up to us." Staff Writer Andrew Edwards contributed to this report.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment