Keeping It Going

Last weekend, my girlfriend Cathi and I were dining in a nice restaurant in Sacramento. I was wearing the Matt Garcia button I’d received at Matt’s memorial service. Our waiter, an older Hispanic gentleman looked at the button and placed his hand to his heart.

He said he hadn’t known Matt Garcia but he and his family had followed his career. He said it was a point of pride that a young Hispanic was elected and that he’d read Matt was doing good things for the city. His family was crushed when Garcia was killed.

It touched me that someone miles away from this community had been following Matt’s career. No doubt there were countless others who had been excited by Matt’s election and knew of him and his good works before his untimely end.

When it was reported that Garcia’s murder had been mistaken identity, it was another blow to the solar plexus. It’s a horrific thought that Matt was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when reckless, murderous individuals tried to carry out their boneheaded revenge. It highlights the randomness of violent crime in Fairfield.

After getting past the initial shock, it is simpler to believe Matt was an unintended target. The thing that had been gnawing at me was who could possibly have it in for Matt?

Where do we go from here? What does it mean to keep the dream alive?

As I wrote in my blog last week, the last time I spoke to Matt was a month or so ago. He called just to shoot the breeze and wanted to get together for lunch and make it a regular thing. I agreed. The lunch date didn’t happen because I, like many of you, always thought there’d be plenty of time.

So one thing I’m doing is practicing to live my life in the moment like Matt advised on his Myspace page.

The other thing is to support law enforcement, support youth programs and give to local organizations that make a difference in Fairfield. As I said on my blog, start up a Neighborhood Watch. Teach people how to read at the Solano County Library. When the Matt Garcia Teen Center opens in October, go down and check it out and see if there’s something you can do.

Buy Matt Garcia T-shirts only from vendors who are giving part of the proceeds to charity.

Finally, it’s heartening to know that over three dozen people have pulled applications for Matt’s seat. While Matt Garcia certainly cannot be replaced as an individual, when the Council makes this decisi on they should do so with the peoples’ wishes in mind.

This isn’t an opportunity for some losing City Council candidate to pick up the seat they never earned. This pick should represent what Matt represented: a focus on youth, a crime fighter, someone who burnishes the city’s image and someone who inspires people and brings them together to make Fairfield better.

We need to continue to do the things that inspired that waiter and his family in Sacramento: show that we’re working to keep Matt’s dream alive. Peace.