Weed, Seed and Need : Wise compromise saves $19 million in federal funds for L.A.

In a victory for Los Angeles, City Council members Mark Ridley-Thomas, Rita Walters and Mike Hernandez have ended a political stalemate that threatened $19 million in federal funds for social programs and law enforcement efforts.

The snag had been over how $1 million dedicated to public safety would be spent in small, selected riot zones in the Pico-Union and South-Central areas.

Mayor Tom Bradley worked out the agreement with the council members and Police Chief Willie L. Williams, who had proposed spending most of the law enforcement funds on community policing. The agreement continues to focus on much-needed funding for community policing. But the council members and their constituents will have a greater say, via public hearings, in how those funds will actually be spent.

President Bush had promised this aid during his post-riot visit to Los Angeles as part of his Justice Department’s “weed and seed” initiative, although much funding originated with the Department of Health and Human Services.

The approaches--and the funds--were twinned to increase public safety so social programs could thrive. However, in efforts in other cities, public safety got, by far, the bulk of the federal commitment.

Because the implication that government was “weeding” their neighborhood offended some, Bradley also asked the Justice Department to change the name. The program will now be called Community Projects for Restoration.

There was no controversy over the funding for social programs. That money, which arrived last month, has been allocated for Head Start classes, clinics for poor women, mobile health care for homeless people and other services.

So, everyone wins. Council members Ridley-Thomas, Walters and Hernandez got the local control of those law enforcement funds and the greater community input they sought. The LAPD is expected to get most of the $1 million. And perhaps, ultimately, residents of inner-city neighborhoods will prove to be the biggest winners.