 OCCCO community leaders joined others from PICO CA to visit the LA Unified School District to learn about their innovative small autonomous schools movement. This movement came from a breakthrough agreement between the teachers union and LAUSD to create a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) that gave charter-like governance structure to local schools, opening the door for community and parents to have voice at table and have more local, school-site control and decision-making power. The all-day research event sat leaders down with the teacher’s union, the coalition of community groups that led the effort, and the Superintendent’s office. OCCCO leaders will continue to research how this model may benefit local Orange County students and schools. To learn more, contact Miguel Hernandez at miguel@occcopico.org, or at (714) 470-8178. OCCCO community leaders met Santa Ana Deputy Police Chief Rojas to follow up on the impact made by the hard work of the immigration committee and allies to reform towing and checkpoint policies in Santa Ana. Great news! Towing incidents have reduced from 400 to 80 a month! In dollar amounts, at approximately $1,000 per car, that means that $320,000 a month stays in the pockets of community members Glad to see our hard work is making a positive impact! To learn more, contact Miguel Hernandez at miguel@occcopico.org, or at (714) 470-8178. SAUSD Research Meeting with Superintendent 03/25/2012
Eight clergy, two community members, and partner organization Kidworks met with the Santa Ana Superintendent Melendez to explore concrete ways to work together to improve education for students in Santa Ana. The group discussed opportunities such as the healthy kids survey (an assessment of health needs in the district), participation on the school climate committee, and partnering for the year-long voter engagement campaign that OCCCO is leading. The group asked Superintendent Melendez to work with them to develop a common covenant, and to attend a public forum to work with the community in May. The Superintendent agreed. To learn more, contact Miguel Hernandez at miguel@occcopico.org, or at (714) 470-8178. City Council votes YES! 03/20/2012
 Congratulations to the Justice Committee from Fairview Community Church in Costa Mesa - an OCCCO member congregation- who worked alongside the Homeless Consortium and Task Force to advocate for passage of a plan that will: designate a homeless resource officer from the PD for targeted outreach to the homeless; assign a city staff position to coordinate efforts of the city, faith and non-profit communities; dedicate funding to begin to explore long-term housing solutions. Want to learn more? Check out the Costa Mesa website at: http://www.ci.costa-mesa.ca.us/departments/CMHomelessTaskForce.htm. To learn more, contact Andrew Hausermann at andrew@occcopico.org, or at (714) 931-6041. Upcoming Community Forum in Santa Ana 03/19/2012
 Monday, March 29, 6 pm Latino Health Access 450 W. 4th St, Santa Ana Come learn about the “Sunshine Ordinance for Santa Ana” …make sure we are part of decisions that affect our lives and our future. Transportation available! Free child care! Snacks will be provided! Download the flyer For more information: Andrew Hausermann, (714) 931-6041, andrew@occcopico.org  Garden Grove OCCCO leaders have been working for some time to develop a comprehensive plan for the city to work on their growing homeless issue. Community leaders presented this plan formally to the city council with a series of recommendations. The recommendations included: extending hours of public restrooms, offering more training for police officers, working with neighboring cities and supporting the construction of a multi-service center to streamline services for the homeless. The Garden Grove group is amongst many in OCCCO working on homeless. Other initiatives are in Anaheim, Fullerton and Costa Mesa. To learn more, contact Sandra Ortega at sandra@occcopico.org, or at (714) 931-6045.  Father/son OCCCO duo Enrique and Luis Bravo joined leaders from other PICO California efforts to meet with Attorney General Kamala Harris’ office to discuss immigration policies in California. As the top law enforcement official in the state, leaders hoped to learn how they see the Secure Communities, or SCOMM bill functioning or not functioning in California. The office agreed with PICO leaders that SCOMM has targeted non-criminal immigrants, and committed to working together down the road to fix how the program is operating. To learn more, contact Andrew Hausermann at andrew@occcopico.org, or at (714) 931-6041.  Thirty-five clergy and community partners met with new Santa Ana Unified School District Superintendent, Dr. Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana. This second Santa Ana clergy luncheon brought together these faith and community leaders to think about education policy and systemic change. Dr. Melendez shared her 100-day entry plan for students in SAUSD, presenting and honest analysis of what is not currently working, and a plan for moving forward. Her presentation demonstrated leadership, transparency, and a commitment to working with the faith community in Santa Ana. The clergy plan on meeting again in a small group setting to continue thinking together about how to create better schools for kids in Santa Ana. The event was co-organized by OCCCO, CLUE, and the Building Healthy Communities project. To learn more, contact Miguel Hernandez at miguel@occcopico.org, or at (714) 470-8178.  Saturday, February 11, 9 AM - 5 PM. Orangethorpe United Methodist Church 2351 W Orangethorpe Ave, Fullerton, 92833 This event is FREE for OCCCO community leaders. Registration cost: $50 for Allies, Partners, and everyone else. Lunch provided. FREE Child Care. Register today! List of Trainings Download Registration Form For information: Felicia Griffin, (714) 605-5602, felicia@occcopico.org  Luis Bravo, OCCCO leader from St. Joachim Catholic Church in Costa Mesa, travelled to Sacramento with organizer Andrew Hausermann to join with twelve leaders and staff from other federations in PICO California to engage in research meetings to help PICO CA determine its legislative agenda for 2012. The St. Joachim Local Organizing Committee, before delegating Luis to the Capitol, worked to shape these agendas for the state committee. The team met with Aaron McGuire, Deputy Legislative Aide for Governor Brown in issues related to public safety, Chief of Staff for Assemblyman Gil Sedillo, and Bay Area Assemblyman Tom Ammiano. The team explored two legislative agenda topics: the TRUST Act, a bill that would allow counties to opt out of Secure Communities (SCOMM), and a bill allowing undocumented immigrant adults to have a California Driver’s License. SCOMM is a program designed to deport high-level felons, but instead has deported thousands of non-felon immigrants who have no criminal record. Ammiano is the author of the TRUST Act and will introduce the bill by January 20; he is close allies with OCCCO’s sister organization in San Francisco, giving PICO CA leaders an opportunity to be at the decision-making table in determining how the final bill will look. Sedillo plans to introduce the license bill in the early months of 2012, and expressed his desire to continue to work with PICO leaders towards positive policies for immigrant integration. Luis and Andrew came back ready to share what they learned with others in OCCCO, and think through how to build power in OC for bills in Sacramento that help immigrant families in 2012. To learn more, contact Andrew at (714) 931.6041 or at andrew@occcopico.org. | DownloadsOCCCO Brochure ArchivesMarch 2012 CategoriesAll |
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