Costa Mesa groups vow to team up

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- Although there were no details or costs laid out, school

board and city officials announced Monday a renewed commitment to work

together for the city’s youth.

Dave Brooks, Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s board president,

will introduce to the school board tonight a resolution outlining a

commitment to work with the city and various nonprofit community leaders

to provide after-school programs for youth.

Brooks said he worked in collaboration with Mayor Libby Cowan to focus

the resources of both the city and the school board on the joint venture.

“We’ve been on parallel tracks but haven’t come together yet,” Brooks

said. “We’ve all been trying to reach the same goals, and joining our

forces would make it more successful and easier to reach more students.”

Cowan will present a similar resolution -- simply stating the city’s

commitment to dedicate necessary resources to educational programs -- to

the City Council at the Sept. 4 meeting, she said.

The idea was sparked by an informal conversation between Cowan and

Brooks while attending a luncheon, Cowan said. Both officials were

discussing the role of education in the community and decided to work

together to accomplish a common goal. Both Cowan and Brooks agreed that

schools should be community centers and the youth are the core of the

community, she said.

Leaders from area organizations such as the Shalimar Learning Center,

Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, Newport-Mesa YMCA and UC Irvine were

on hand to kick off the proposal. Newport-Mesa Supt. Robert Barbot was

also present.

“Separately, we are just threads in the community, but combined we can

weave together to create a stronger fabric,” Barbot said.

One by one, leaders from the respective organizations voiced their

excitement about the collaboration, saying a positive influence can reach

a broader base with more facets of the community participating.

Although implementation and funding were not detailed at the press

conference, member of the audience touched on possible hurdles in the

process and were quick to offer solutions. Opposition could mount from

the fact that government entities would use public money to fund

faith-based programs.

Hank Parian of the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant said residents

don’t have to worry about church volunteers preaching to the youth. The

church wants to do its part for the community by providing a space to

meet or volunteers to help with programs, but have no intention of

teaching faith-based messages.

“Religious views take a back seat to the issues volunteers are

confronted with when they start working with the challenges that seventh-

and eighth-graders” face, Parian said.

Each organization would have to respect the boundaries and understand

that a line could not be crossed, Barbot added.

“I feel like a Lakers coach because I have all this great talent; it’s

just a matter of bringing it together,” Brooks said.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .