Frank X. Moraga
Giving thanks for gift of friends, family
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805
As we come to the end of 2010, we look back on a very challenging year for all of us.
Many business owners and 805 residents kept wondering about all this talk of a recovery from the recession. Retail sales continued to be sluggish for most of the year, unemployment continued at uncomfortably high levels, home prices continued to slip, while foreclosures continued to creep up.
But, as the year drew to a close there were signs that consumers were ready to come out of their dark bunkers and peer hopefully at a brighter economic future.
Retail sales were surprisingly strong this holiday season, and might have been even stronger if not for such bad weather in California and throughout many parts of the nation. Economists believe many consumers are a little bit more confident about keeping their jobs in the coming year, and so they were more willing to venture out to the malls this holiday season.
This could potentially snowball, with employers willing to add more workers in 2011, and potential homeowners with good credit ready to jump off the fence and purchase affordable homes at relatively low interest rates.
Obstacles remain. A dramatic jump in gasoline prices in 2011 could drive this mild recovery off the road again. Too many foreclosed properties dumped on the market by banks could further depress the housing market and end any kind of recovery.
For now, it’s wait and see mixed with a dash of optimism.
On the personal side, we at Amigos805 also hope for a more prosperous year for all. Our experiment in alternative journalism yielded mixed results in 2010. Nonprofit organizations, education institutions, government officials and consumers continued to turn to Amigos805 as a positive outlet to distribute and receive vital information on events and issues impacting the Latino community in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
We continued to play an important role in the community, sponsoring events in 2010 for such groups as the Braceros exhibit at California State University, Channel Islands; the De Colores Art Show in Santa Paula, the Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme Boys and Girls Club, El Concilio del Condado de Ventura, the Oxnard Digi Student Film Festival, the Oxnard Salsa Festival, the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County and Teatro de las Américas.
All this has been done with our Amigos805 partners spread throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Amigos805 partner Mariana Llamas-Cendon continues to hold the fort down in what we amusingly refer to as our Cuernavaca, Mexico bureau, where she still finds time to write occasional stories on local university professors receiving nominations for Latin Grammy Awards, doing telephone interviews to complete preview stories on upcoming entertainment events in the 805 and producing our monthly calendar section. She is also hoping 2011 will be the year when she can finally return to the U.S. and pursue a more active writing career here in the states.
Meanwhile, I’m enjoying another snowbound day in the mountains of Northern Arizona, after experiencing more than a foot of snow here in the Flagstaff region. A White Christmas indeed. However, the power is still on, the coffee is hot and so I can continue to be connected via computer — where I update our website and send out our weekly e-newsletters — to my native Ventura County, a place where I grew up, launched my journalism career, met such amazing friends and enjoyed family during a recent holiday visit, one of many visits home this year.
We thank everyone for their support in 2010 as we continued to overcome these challenging times for a fledgling media organization. We hope that 2011 will finally be the year when we can gain enough advertising support to hire a local bureau editor and advertising representative, launch our student journalism training program and bring you more news and feature trend stories via our website and a regular print publication.
Here’s wishing everyone a very Happy New Year, with all the peace and prosperity that you deserve.