SALINAS, Calif. -- The Public Service Announcement is titled "California Teens Demand A Plan to End Violence." The spot runs for a minute one YouTube, but is truly powerful, especially for anyone who lives in the communities they list. Salinas is one of the those cities.
Central Coast News showed the video to Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter, Deputy Police Chief Terry Gerhardstein, and Monterey County Superintendent Nancy Kotowski.
Their reaction to the message was the same.
"That was powerful," said Kotowski.
The video was made in light of the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. The organization who made the video, The California Endowment, said it was in response to youth in the 14 communities they work in. Salinas is one of them.
"It strikes close to home because I think that message is from a lot of members of our community, especially the young people," said Gunter.
We found out the high school student in this video who says Salinas is actually from LA, but the organization, Building Healthy Communities, who benefits from projects like these, operates out of Salinas.
Deputy Chief Gerhardstein said even though Salinas hasn't had a school shooting like Newtown, kids are exposed to gun violence almost everyday.
"In comparing the two towns, I think we have a lot of cumulative violence and they had a one time issue, but it's the same, kids dying is wrong," said Gerhardstein.
But city leaders tell me its not all bad news in Salinas and some positive programs should be highlighted.
"I'd like to see a more positive message to balance it off," said Kotowski.
