WANTED! LAUNDRY BANDIT!

I was hoping to stay off the vandalism talk for awhile but I came across something last night which is preventing me from doing so. I walked into the small laundry room last night to post up a flyer for our new blog, and noticed that someone had pinned up a notice to all MV residents. The notice stated that there is a laundry thief amongst us. The author has had laundry stolen, on two different occassions, from the small laundry room totaling over $300.

This is ridiculous people, stealing someone else's clothes...I hope that the "Laundry Bandit" isn't one of our residents. This just reiterates why I believe we should push to have security cameras installed. To the unfortunate resident who has lost their laundry, my sympathy goes out to you and I completely understand how you feel. Hopefully this post will help other residents understand your frustration in the matter.

If you have any information regarding this matter please contact the Santa Ana Police Department, or leave a comment on our blog and I'll make something happen.

Vandalism, Vandalism and more Vandalism!!!

In case you haven't noticed lately, the amount of vandalism throughout MV has skyrocketed. Cars are being broken into, keyed, and even drenched in oil based paint. Oh and how could I forget that I come across new graffiti on a weekly basis. The bottom line is that we need to put a stop to it A.S.A.P.

In case you missed the January Association meeting, Vandalism seemed to be at the top of members concerns. We heard countless victim stories, my wife and I being one of them. If you haven't been a victim yet you're one of the few, that's how bad it's getting. At the meeting the board tried its best to address the issue. Many members asked about hiring a security guard, and were shocked to find out the in fact we do have a security guard named Carol. I have yet to meet her. In disgust members voiced that a security guard just wasn't cutting it and I agree.

So how do we solve this problem? MINIMIZE? PREVENT? STOP?
Two ideas came to mind; the first being closing off the property with gates. Bam! Problem solved right, WRONG, not going to happen. Heres why: The city of Santa Ana requires at least a 60 foot clearance area on each driveway, and in order to do that we would need to reconstruct all driveways, eliminate some parking, months of construction, and it would cost upwards of $300,000. Yeah so that's out of the question. So what's the other idea, well this one is do-able, and I'd vote for it under certain circumstances, SECURITY CAMERAS. Although it would probably cost upwards of $30,000 for a sophisticated setup it would work to Minimize, Prevent and Prosecute those vandals, trash dumpers and even would be attackers or sexual predators. Having done some security work in my day, a security guard can be a hundred times more effective given cameras to monitor. With a decent setup that covered all parking areas, we could have the guard monitor the cameras, alert the police when there is a crime in progress and proceed to the location. If you have any other ideas please submit them here or attend our next association meeting on Feb. 20th, at 7pm.

Believe it or not, Santa Ana has a pretty decent graffiti clean-up program. The key is that it relies heavily on citizen participation to report incidents. Also, should you assist with the arresting of an individual who is defacing public/private property, the City of Santa Ana will mail you a check for $500! Just make sure you fill out the police report and you may also need to follow up to collect your check.

If you see graffiti happening, don't call 911. 911 can't help you and being dialed from a cell phone connects you to Highway Patrol.

Call Santa Ana Police @ (714) 834-4211.

Be ready with your location (cross streets and addresses help), a description of the person(s) committing the act including race, clothing type and color, and anything else such as spray paint color.

For immediate graffiti clean-up in Santa Ana, call 877-786-7824.

For graffiti found in unincorporated areas/County-owned and maintained property, call (714) 834-3400.

Read more about graffiti clean-up in Santa Ana here.

Read more about the Santa Ana Graffiti Reward Program here.

And So it Begins...

...with a disclaimer.

This post as others you will read must be credited to, Ben Dayhoe, my inspiration for this blog. Given his permission, I will share his knowledge and expierences' with our community through his articles, and my own articles to establish a foundation for Life at the Monterey Villas. I encourage everyone to join into our discussions.

This blog is in no way meant to deface, defame or demoralize any persons, corporations or companies mentioned in any of its articles. We will always try to portray both sides of the story in an equal light and offer any parties mentioned to voice their own opinion as well.

The goal of this blog is to serve as a voice of the residents living at the Monterey Villas, located in Downtown Orange County. We hope to unify neighbors and inform residents of current problems, issues, accomplishments and goals within our community. This blog is not only limited to the happenings within the community, but to post articles about upcoming events in and around our area, as well as spotlighting local "jewels" that the city sometimes seems to hide.