ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Up Against the Gangs

Santa Ana has made notable headway in recent weeks in mobilizing at the grass-roots level to begin attacking the problem of gangs.

But unfortunately, not all the politicians are as far along as the community participants. And as long as politics stand in the way of a unified assault on the problem, the city will be unable to bring all its energies to bear on finding solutions. It’s time, then, for leaders to put aside political differences so they can properly address this important problem.

The impact of the gang menace was illustrated dramatically in the community’s expression of concern about the recent violence at a basketball court outside Santa Ana High School. A father of three was slain last month in the schoolyard after a pickup game, and three of his relatives were wounded. A former gang member has since been arrested as a suspect in the killing.

A TIME OF DESPAIR: At various community meetings in recent weeks, it has been obvious that hopelessness and despair run deep in some of the barrios and that this climate has also fed the city’s destructive reservoir of gang activity.

One need not look far in Southern California this spring to see how long-simmering community problems of poverty, economic injustice, prejudice and a sense of isolation have the potential of a powder keg. And indeed, The Times Orange County Poll has revealed that 53% of the county’s residents believe that an outbreak of violence similar to that which swept Los Angeles in the wake of the Rodney King case verdicts is “somewhat likely” or “very likely” to occur here “in the next few years.”

Much of this concern centers on urbanized areas such as Santa Ana, which, perhaps unfairly, has borne much of the burden of dealing face to face with the county’s gang problems. But despite the hopes of many in the community that a broad-based political solution might be found, there has been some distracting bickering in the weeks since the schoolyard killing, most notably between City Councilman John Acosta and a council majority led by Mayor Daniel H. Young.

Acosta, who is planning to run for mayor against Young this fall, has said that Anglo council members neither understand nor care about problems facing minorities in Santa Ana. It was a provocative statement in a difficult time that elicited from Young a very testy response as well as a call for an end to allegations of ethnic bias.

Whatever level of understanding the various parties may have, it is hard to envision any lasting solution to deep-seated problems that does not include the full participation and planning of all the city’s political leaders, as well as leaders of ethnic and racial groups.

A TIME OF HOPE: Indeed, an unusual collection of about 100 citizens gathered for a brainstorming session at a local YWCA gymnasium not long ago. It included neighborhood association leaders, Latino activists, Councilman Robert L. Richardson, Mayor Pro Tem Miguel A. Pulido Jr.--the mayor’s appointee to head the city’s search for proposals to end the gang problem--and even gang members.

It was, many said, an unprecedented occasion at which white neighborhood leaders found themselves in the same room with gang members and at which parties on opposite sides of the litigious code enforcement dispute got together.

It would be helpful if politicians in general took a cue from the willingness of such diverse constituents to put differences aside. It is essential that officials place the interests of the entire city first. Neighborhood leaders seem to be showing the city how to do it.

It’s good that these grass-roots efforts are being made to address the destructive problem of gangs. But for any lasting solution, the city will be served best by a coordinated and unified approach. This means that everybody will have to be involved and will have to check their political ambitions or differences at the door before sitting at the common table.