By Robert Rosenblatt
Staff Writer
411whittier.com
WHITTIER – Those local poets who went to school in Whittier as young students in the 1950s and 1960s experienced one of the finest educational systems in the nation.
California was a leader in sending students to college. Whittier took pride in producing great scholars and athletes on a consistent basis.
The traditional core values instilled by our parents, teachers and religious leaders have always made this city great for raising a family. Whittier schools remain a cut above elementary and high schools in Los Angeles in general, with higher test scores and unprecedented numbers of graduates going to college.

Whittier city management has kept us out of bankruptcy with a more responsible use of taxes for maintenance of schools, parks and roads. The trash is collected three times a week instead of once, as they do in Los Angeles. The police in Whittier and Santa Fe Springs help keep crime rates lower than most of our neighboring communities.
Two incidents in close proximity over the past few months have shaken my faith in humanity.
The desecration of grave markers at Founders’ Park and the early release of thousands of “low risk” prisoners due to overcrowding changed everything. There were multiple incidents of young girls being approached by ex-cons in our local parks. The original brass plaques representing the first people to settle in Whittier were stolen and melted down for scrap by thieves and thugs.
The shattered wood mountings and cost of brass have so far prevented the restoration of the Founders’ Park memorial. The history of the residents interred could be found by the excellent Whittier Historical Society. Local artisans could replace brass with less expensive etched marble to replace the brass. If you go near Calvary Cemetery on Whittier Boulevard, you will see some of the best family-owned artisan-monument-makers in the country.

Perhaps the good folks at Rose Hills could participate in a noble cause to restore some dignity to that hallowed ground.

In this way, we honor those poets who came before us.
In regards to the next prisoner release, the perps should heed the phrase, “Fear the Poets,” the motto of our beloved local college. The local martial arts academies are all in support of showing up to teach when they can at Penn Park and Founders’ Park. Local Kenpo master Steve Gallardo can be seen on Wednesday afternoons teaching his young charges.

The former Arizona State Sun Devil football player lost a foot to diabetes, but continues to inspire all of us by standing up to teach our future citizens.

“Good on you, mate,” I say. My fellow instructors will do what we can to back a very stretched thin blue line with our eyes and our cell phones.

The sight of martial arts training in the parks may help in a small way to deter the creeps from harassing our most precious assets, our children, from harm.

A peaceful life will usually produce better poets and certainly better poetry. We at 411whittier.com will keep up with the local issues that concern us all. Until next time …

Robert Rosenblatt is a longtime Whittier resident. Write to him at rrosenblatt@411whittier.com or call 562-314-7669.