Board of Trustees member Janette Mann will be one of two appointees to the Pasadena anti-violence committee.The trustees are part of the 11-member committee established last week by the Pasadena City Council to create viable solutions to a gang violence epidemic.
The committee will have its first meeting on Oct. 1st. Mann said Wednesday she will be in India at the time and Dr. Consuelo Rey Castro, president, will attend in her place.
Coinciding with Pasadena’s battle against violence is a new state law addressing one aspect of gang violence.
A new bill is awaiting approval from the governor that would mandate parents of first-time gang offenders to attend classes at their own expense.
The bill passed the Legislature earlier this month, and Arnold Schwarzenegger has until Oct. 12 to sign it.
Schwarzenegger has yet to comment on the Anti-Gang Violence Parental Accountability Act.
If the bill is approved, juvenile court judges will order parents of first-time gang offenders to register and pay for anti-gang violence parenting classes.
Parents would be required to attend six-to-eight-week parenting classes, and meet the family of the victim.
The Department of Justice would develop the curriculum and certify who will teach the classes and where.
One of the bill’s authors, Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, expects classes to start in 2009. The classes will also be open to repeat offenders under 18, he said.
The fees parents have to pay for the classes will fund the programs, but if the parents cannot afford the classes, judges can set up an alternative payment plan.
“We need to break the cycle of gang activity in families and stop the revolving door of juvenile gang-members going in and out of jail,” said Mendoza.
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