Anti-Gang Strategy Gaining Momentum : Violence: Community leaders, along with gang members and neighborhood groups, focus on 14-point plan to ease bloodshed. Anglo residents are told that they, too, must join effort.

About 100 people from all over the city met Wednesday night for the start of what they hope is a citywide effort to combat the growing gang problem in their neighborhoods.

The meeting in a YMCA gymnasium drew neighborhood association leaders, Latino activists, politicians and gang members, highlighting the importance of the gang violence sweeping across the city.

In a speech that he said was meant to provoke the audience, Santa Ana attorney Alfredo Amezcua challenged the predominantly Anglo neighborhood association leaders to recruit Latinos to their organizations.

“I have heard many of you say, ‘It’s not our problem, it’s those Mexicans,’ Amezcua said. “Ladies and gentlemen, believe it or not, it’s your problem; it’s our problem. Because as I have seen it, the bad apples of the youth do not come in any color.”

Michele Morrisey of the Floral Park Neighborhood Assn. replied, “I think the fact that we are here tonight means we are interested in contributing in every way that we can.”

Catapulted by last week’s fatal gang shooting of a father of three in a Santa Ana High School parking lot that also left three others wounded, residents and community leaders joined forces to reclaim their city from the gangs that are rapidly encroaching on their neighborhoods.

The residents looked to City Hall for leadership, but they also resolved to take action themselves.

The discussion centered around Amezcua’s 14-point action plan to combat gang activities, including:

* The establishment of a gang-prevention hot line that would encourage the reporting of gang activities and provide counseling for parents and youths.

* The publication of a bilingual booklet for parents on how to prevent gang activities. Rancho Santiago Community College board member John M. Raya announced that the college and the Santa Ana Police Officers Assn. would combine resources to produce the brochure.

* Increasing recreational programs.

* Establishing a community forum that would draw expert testimony on how to reduce gang activities. John Palacio, the director of the Orange County Leadership Program sponsored by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said that Latino leaders are planning a forum on the gang issue and invited the neighborhood leaders to participate.

Councilman Robert L. Richardson also reissued his invitation to residents to join him at a rally May 2 that will begin 10 a.m. at the corner and Myrtle and Parton streets.

Although several gang members were in the audience--including one of the leaders who has organized weekly meetings among gangs to bring about a truce--most did not speak.

However, former gang member Phillip Duarde, 36, pleaded for help from the community. “You know what? We are hurting, we are all hurting,” he said.

The audience also heard from a Santa Ana High School English teacher who complained that physical education teachers are afraid to have their classes on the perimeter of the campus because of the lack of security.

But school Principal Andy Hernandez said that one of the priorities of school officials is to keep the campus safe for students.

The discussion on gang prevention initially had been scheduled as part of the regular monthly meeting of about 60 neighborhood association representatives from throughout the city.

But the shooting of 31-year-old Mauro Meza was followed by an outcry from citizens for action against gangs. Aside from City Council discussion on the issue Monday night, the neighborhood association’s gathering was the first opportunity for citizens to collect ideas to help solve the problem.

“I didn’t know the guy, but that could have been me,” said meeting chairman Jim Walker of the Sandpointe neighborhood. “People are beginning to care because they recognize the problem. There seems to be something happening.”

Noticeably absent from the meeting was Councilman John Acosta, who has openly disagreed with the mayor’s appointment of Mayor Pro Tem Miguel A. Pulido Jr. to lead the city government’s response to the gang issue.

Acosta said before Wednesday’s session that he preferred to hear from residents who are confronted by gang activities on a daily basis and can provide valuable information.

“This is the kind of people that I want to talk to. These are the ‘get down’ people,” Acosta said, adding that the neighborhood association leaders would not be able to relate to the Latino community.