ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Feds Show Up at Willard

There was good news recently for a beleaguered Santa Ana neighborhood: The U.S. attorney’s office--impressed with local anti-drug efforts--will prosecute two men for alleged drug sales near Willard Intermediate School on Ross Street. If convicted, the men face federal sentences that are stiffer than those under state law.

Federal involvement sends a strong signal to drug dealers that they had better get out of the area. The move was made despite the fact that the two cases involved didn’t meet ordinary federal guidelines.

It’s important that this be more than a “staged” or a onetime event. Suspects in cases in which federal agents lend support to community-based efforts must be prosecuted vigorously. Only then will word get out that drug activities will not be tolerated.

The U.S. attorney agreed to help because Santa Ana needed assistance and already was doing all that it could.

Already in place were stepped-up police and building-code enforcement, a street-lighting program and a neighborhood association. The message: Cities can’t expect federal help unless they first do everything they can to stop drug activity.

Oddly, there was a second story coming out of the Willard area last week. The City Council paid $25,000 to William Zuehl, 71, for his claim stemming from an incident in which he was shot at when he interrupted a drug raid being conducted from his back yard--unknown to him. The incident might have been written off as a misunderstanding but for this: Zuehl was jailed for nine hours even after it was learned that he was the longtime resident of the house. Besides the settlement, Zuehl deserves an apology.

Despite this instance of excess, the city, with the help of federal prosecutors, is on the right track in trying to rid the Willard area of drug dealers.