AFTER THE RIOTS: REBUILDING THE COMMUNITY : Rebuild L.A. Asks Residents for Their Input

From the moment it was created, the Rebuild L.A. task force has sparked concern that it will not include enough representation from the minority communities it is supposed to help.

On Sunday, the group spearheading efforts to restore riot-damaged areas gave its first public response: At tables outside about 30 Los Angeles churches, it provided questionnaires--in at least three languages--for people to voice their opinion on how they think rebuilding should be done.

The comments, oral and written, are diverse testimony from an anguished city, reflecting the people’s concerns about rebuilding liquor stores, political powerlessness, jobs, gangs and education. They also provide some sobering thoughts for Rebuild L.A., the fledgling organization headed by Peter V. Ueberroth that has yet to name its permanent staff or board of directors.

“You need to go to the common man to find out what’s needed and what’s necessary,” said Michael Woods, 24, a parishioner standing outside St. Brigid’s Church in South-Central Los Angeles, as a joyous Mother’s Day service was in full swing.

“Even though Peter Ueberroth was head of the Olympic committee, in order for him to do a good job, he needs to go into each community himself. Something here in South-Central might be different from something in Watts.”

In fact, Ueberroth was not expected to drop in on the churches, associates said last week. The tables, some sporting green and white “Rebuild L.A.” banners, were manned by church volunteers and employees of corporations enlisted by Rebuild L.A., such as the Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker law firm of Los Angeles.

The suggestions will be evaluated once the skeletal Rebuild L.A. has staffers to do it, possibly this week. Sunday’s outreach project was a limited first step in engaging the community and could be vastly expanded if Ueberroth and his lieutenants believe the technique works.

“The more ideas the better,” said Barry Sanders, a partner with the law firm Latham & Watkins, which helped organize the effort. “We will read them all. There will be duds, and there will be great ideas.”

Yet, in one spot, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church on West Adams Boulevard, there were only a few ideas despite the thousands of parishioners filing in and out of seven Sunday Masses. A few volunteers waited at a table outside the elegant sanctuary, but the stack of questionnaires was mostly untouched; a dozen No. 2 pencils lay in a neat row, undisturbed.

Behind the table, a teaching of St. Vincent de Paul, the apostle of charity, hung on the wall: “The poor, they are your masters.”

Sister Diane Donoghue, a community organizer at the 105-year-old church, said that many of the poor, mostly Latino congregants are wary of bureaucracy--which reminds them of immigration officials or abusive regimes they have fled. “This isn’t the way you engage this culture,” she said shortly before noon, when only nine forms had been filled out. “You sit down with them. They won’t tell you what they think unless they know you.”

The church visits underscored a dilemma facing Rebuild L.A. and Ueberroth: People in the affected communities demand to be included in the rebuilding quest, a process of organizing that can take time. But they also want action--fast. Ueberroth has said that successful rebuilding will require costly, long-term commitments from private employers for decent jobs, the sort that require employers to invest in training.

“No studies or special commissions are needed. . . . Action now--words of praise later,” wrote one parishioner at St. Brigid’s Church, at 52nd Street and Western Avenue, a mostly black congregation in the area of the most severe riot damage.

As services went on all over Southern California, people filling out the forms provided a chorus of their own. The questionnaire was open-ended, asking just for people’s “guidance, involvement and leadership” in rebuilding the city. Some miscellaneous voices:

In English: “We do not need or want any liquor stores. Please educate our kids.”

In Spanish: “Put all the vandals to work.”

In English: “Invest in people. What is happening in the schools? Less funding for children creates more anger.”

One person noted in Korean that his Inglewood market has been “damaged in the amount of $40,000.”

From a black church came this request: “Clean stores with fair prices with courteous workers.”

Although some viewed the questionnaires as a useful first step, others seemed to find the approach impersonal and sought more direct participation. “This is not enough,” said Efren Delgado Castellon, inside St. Vincent’s. “We need to get in one place all the leaders of the community--black, Hispanic, Oriental, American--and come out with an idea, not just talk.”

A few moments later, Eva Webb said that because so many people in the community broke the law, neighbors must rebuild relations with each other and take responsibility.

“All of us are in this together,” said Webb, 32, a naturalized citizen who was born in Tijuana and works as an administrative assistant at another church. “It was our children, our cousins, our brothers, our neighbors.”

At St. Agnes, several blocks away on South Vermont Avenue, where up to 5,000 people show up on Sunday, an attorney manning one of the tables got into a debate with a parishioner over Rebuild L.A.’s approach to the broader population.

“The people that are giving the input don’t really know the people who are being victimized,” said Christopher Pak, a Korean-American architect.

At that point, Melvin Neal, the lawyer who had volunteered to man the Rebuild L.A. table jumped in: “That’s why we’re out today--to get that community input.”

Pak said: “This is indirect participation. You have to have direct participation. I’m afraid that the community may not get that opportunity.”

Neal, who is black and was born in Compton, later agreed that the leaders of the rebuilding must “listen to the people’s needs. Not just the business side but the people side as well. The only way you can do it is by getting in touch directly with the community.”

On the other side of the church parking lot, a group of Korean-American parishioners had clustered after a service. One member of the community said it is unfair to expect Koreans to pay to rebuild their damaged businesses. “Why should hard-working people have to borrow and pay interest?” asked Steven Koh, who is president of St. Agnes’ Korean congregation. “They’ve paid so much taxes over the years. They’ve donated things to other people in the community. Government should give them the funds.”

Elsewhere Sunday, residents offered mixed opinions of Ueberroth, who gained almost legendary stature in the 1980s for steering the Olympics onto a money-making course, with major contributions from the private sector.

Larry Henderson, 37, stood outside the service at St. Brigid’s as the male congregants were serenading mothers with a version of “You Are So Beautiful.” Asked about Ueberroth, Henderson said: “They should have picked someone from the community. There are a lot of people who are qualified,” he said. “If you know the community, you know who to work with--and the people have more respect for someone in the community.”

Nearby, Willie Bean, an affable man in a red blazer who was selling raffle tickets, called Ueberroth a “wonderful man.” But he agreed that Rebuild L.A. will require strong community support to succeed. “I think he can work wonders with the cooperation of the community. But he can’t do a thing without the cooperation of the community.”