Secrecy Gives Way to Fear : Parolees Forced Out of Mt. Washington

The ex-convicts were supposed to go unnoticed.

They had to be nearly invisible for a time, then slowly blend in with the economically diverse neighborhood of prewar homes at the foot of Mount Washington.

Such were the plans of Jackie Brown when she started the room and board program for prison parolees last August in a bungalow court on the corner of Marmion Way and Avenue 43. She did not inform the neighborhood that she was starting a program that would house 15 to 20 parolees at a time, and she did not tell the city of Los Angeles either.

For some time, the boarders managed to keep a low profile, neighbors said. They dressed in simple, clean clothes and avoided loitering. They kept their trash out of sight and tended to their front yard. On Sundays, many put on their best suits and waited for Brown to drive them to church.

A string of burglaries broke their cover. Police said they found no connection to the halfway house. But the neighborhood did.

And while they could produce no evidence linking the parolees to the break-ins, their protests to city and state officials produced an even more damaging finding. The Los Angeles city attorney’s office issued an opinion this week that the state-funded program was in violation of city zoning regulations.

Even before the city’s investigation concluded, however, the Department of Corrections announced that it was pulling out of the program.

Transfer Announced

On Monday night, the Mount Washington Assn. brought the news to its members. By Feb. 1, all the parolees would be transferred to the Weingart Center, a 600-bed facility for the homeless in downtown’s Skid Row.

“We don’t fare that well in residential areas,” said Frank Russell, director of the state Department of Corrections’ substance abuse revocation diversion program (SARD), which funds fewer than 10 community facilities, primarily because of the difficulty of overcoming local opposition. The program offers help to parolees who have been out of prison for a while but are identified by parole officers as being in danger of getting in trouble.

“We’re not welcome in too many places,” Russell said.

As the parolees were being told they would have to leave Mount Washington, Brown, the manager of the halfway house, said it would be the last time she would try to ease a community care program into a neighborhood without prior notice.

No More Surprises

“We can’t do it anymore,” she said. “From now on, we will have to notify the proper authorities.”

For SARD, the defeat apparently brought an end to a bold attempt to avoid opposition by merely moving in quietly.

Corrections officials were aware from the onset that the Mount Washington halfway house might be inconsistent with zoning laws but “decided to test the waters” anyway, said Jerome Di Maggio, SARD’s administrator for Los Angeles County.

The Mount Washington program opened in July under contract to the Transwestern Institute, a private social service company. It was to house parolees convicted of nonviolent, mostly drug-related crimes.

SARD programs provide housing for parolees up to three months, Di Maggio said. They are intended to provide ex-convicts with counseling and job training and then return them to independent life styles with permanent jobs. The Mount Washington program also offers Bible study. Residents are periodically tested for drug use.

Drug Problems

During an unannounced visit one recent Sunday, the courtyard between the bungalows in Mount Washington was virtually deserted. Most residents were inside their modest rooms, gathered around television sets, engaging in quiet conversations. Many talked freely about their past drug-related experiences and what they were doing to cope with their addictions.

“You can score drugs in jail, but you need money,” said Herbert Bonwell, 36. “Out here it’s much easier to score, so you have to be stronger to stay clean.”

As he spoke, he adjusted his tie in front of a mirror. He was getting ready for church.

His roommate Steve Herrera, 26, was sipping coffee and watching football on an old television set.

“This is a good program,” said Herrera, a recovering heroin addict who got hooked when he was 12. “I’d be in the streets with no blankets if it weren’t for this program. Look at what I’ve got here. It’s a beautiful place!”

His small room was tidy and clean, with two beds and a black wooden closet taking up most of the space.

At the time, neither Bonwell nor Herrera knew that three months of organized community pressure had numbered their days at the home.

String of Break-Ins

The fight began after a succession of five burglaries and break-ins in the first week of October, all within a block or two of the home.

While comparing notes on the burglaries, Mount Washington Assn. members became aware of the halfway home at the foot of the hill, among the row of mostly multi-unit dwellings along Marmion Way, forming the border between middle-class Mount Washington and the lower-income Latino section of Highland Park.

The news about the home, which spread at an association meeting, took most neighbors by surprise, and the surprise soon turned into fear.

“I used to run at night, but I can’t do that anymore since the ex-convicts moved in,” said Dea Davis, 30, after jogging past the boarding home the other day. “We’re trying to build a neighborhood for kids, and we don’t feel safe anymore.”

‘A Threat’

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to have ex-convicts in residential neighborhoods,” said Chris Gaines, 37, whose house overlooks the boarding home. “It represents a threat, because no rehabilitation program has 100% success rates and some homes in the area have been burglarized.”

Police found no evidence linking the burglaries to any of the parolees. Sam Catalfamo, the detective in charge of the investigation, said that such burglary sprees are not uncommon in Northeast Los Angeles, where well-to-do neighborhoods and economically depressed areas are intermingled.

But the parolees did not get the benefit of the doubt.

Soon after the burglaries, they began feeling the neighbors’ scrutiny. First, at the association’s request, Los Angeles Police Officer Mark Perez visited the bungalows. He did not find any violations of law but counted 21 parolees living in the house and three bungalows that make up the facility.

Armed with this information, the association asked for their elected officials’ help. In response, a meeting was set up Dec. 14 with representatives of Los Angeles Councilman Richard Alatorre and Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Highland Park).

Sacramento Pressure

Polanco’s office contacted state Senator David Roberti (D-Los Angeles). The Sacramento staffs of both officials began to pressure the Department of Corrections to reexamine its support of the program.

Alatorre’s office ordered a city investigation to find out whether the program’s location violated the Los Angeles zoning code.

Building safety inspector Charles Parsons was sent to the home and cited it for five safety violations.

Meanwhile, in response to a Dec. 15 letter from Alatorre, Assistant City Atty. Patricia Clemens began an investigation of the home’s compliance with city law. She concluded this week that it was subject to an ordinance limiting to six the number of residents in community care facilities. The program needed a variance to operate, Clemens said.

Transwestern’s on-site supervisor Greg Jasper argued that the Mount Washington site comprises four programs, since each of its buildings has a separate address.

Defeat Conceded

However, Jackie Brown, the manager of the halfway house, conceded defeat.

Even before Clemens made the opinion public, the Mount Washington Assn. was celebrating its victory.

Representatives of Alatorre, Polanco and Roberti were on hand Monday night to receive a round of applause from about 80 members.

“We are happy that we were to be able to sensitize the Department of Corrections about the problem,” said David Kim, a spokesman for Roberti.

Di Maggio said he was relieved to learn that the program had secured 30 beds in the Weingart Center.

Brown, on the other hand, was disconsolate. Her company will not receive more state funds until it finds an adequate program site, she said.

“The state is forcing us to pull everybody out,” she said. “The people are being sent downtown, which is not a good environment. It doesn’t help them.”