The Shameless Exploitation of Baby Samantha Rose

Lorri Galloway continues to use the death of baby Samantha Rose Gutierrez for her own Public Relations promotions. http://ocblog.typepad.com/ocblog/2006/10/lorri_galloway_.html
She uses the baby’s death for an excuse for everything from why she supports another politician to why she ran for office. She has even shamelessly been photographed at the grave (twice). www.ocregister.com/.../abox/article_1281039.php

Let’s look at what really happened to baby Samantha. Lorri Galloway complains that while there was evidence that baby Samantha was being abused and neglected, Social Services agencies did nothing to protect her. If one takes the time to review the story, Baby Samantha Rose Gutierrez was being raised in a garage converted to living space. http://articles.latimes.com/2003/may/11/local/me-samantha11

There is no provision in the Building Code for this type of conversion, it is against the law. Had the City of Anaheim’s Code Enforcement division been called in to deal with the illegal conversion, the Gutierrez family would have been removed from that garage. Eli Home counselors appear to have visited the home. Had the family been reported to Code Enforcement for dangerous living conditions, Samantha Rose may still be alive today. One would think that in light of the death of a baby that Lorri Galloway claims as “her own”, she would be in support of Code Enforcement, in an effort to maintain safe and viable housing for other children being raised in dangerous circumstances. Instead, almost immediately upon taking office (Spring 2005) Lorri Galloway voted to take authority away from the Code Enforcement division. Lorri Gallloway helped to decimate the one City law enforcement division that could have helped baby Samantha Rose Gutierrez escape her dangerous and illegal living conditions. In Anaheim today, many families are living in converted garages, conditions that are nothing short of firetraps. Within the last year, a young man died in a garage on Harbor Blvd, where he was sleeping while being warmed by a space heater that caught fire. Had the Code Enforcement division been given the authority they once had, that young man may still be alive. How many innocents must die because Lorri Galloway wished to make Code Enforcement “friendlier”?

It is time to elect Councilmembers who respect public safety. It is time to vote “NO” on Lorri Galloway.