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Wednesday, Sep 09, 2009
Councilwoman Hahn Celebrates Successful Summer Night Lights Season
September 9, 2009
It was great to be able to join with the Mayor to celebrate a very successful summer of the Summer Night Lights program, and to welcome Guillermo Cespedes to his new post as head of the Gang Reduction and Youth Development Program.
Once again, we have demonstrated that when we give young people good alternatives and opportunities, we can keep them out of gangs and keep them out of trouble—and most importantly, crime goes down.
If we can provide constructive opportunities that will empower every at-risk child in Los Angeles, I believe we will finally be able to win this war on gangs. And Summer Night Lights is a great way to reach the young people that need these alternatives most.
In Watts this summer we had 1000 kids put to work with summer jobs. We also had 1000 kids participating at Summer Night Lights at the Nickerson Gardens, Imperial Courts and Jordan Downs Housing Developments. This is 2000 kids that we had off the streets and staying out of trouble.
And because of that, we had a quiet summer in Watts. And we had a quiet summer all over Los Angeles.
Giving kids something to do on night and weekends works. But, we still need to do more. We need to provide every young person with programs like Summer Night Lights, abut also with after-school and job training opportunities. I am committed to making that happen all over Los Angeles.
I look forward to continuing to work to make Los Angeles even safer.
Posted at 12:00 AM