IRVINE : Group Created After Shooting to Expand

A community task force formed after two high school students were wounded in a drive-by shooting late last year met for the first time this week and decided that it needed to add members to better reflect the city’s population.

The City Council and Irvine Unified School District Board of Education formed the task force in December to look into the sources of violence and gang activity in the community and recommend solutions.

On Monday night, the Safe Community Task Force gathered for an organizational meeting and was met immediately with criticisms that its members do not reflect the racial, geographic and other makeup of the city.

“You say this committee is supposed to represent the community,” said Cheryl Batiste, the mother of an Irvine High School junior. “Where are your minorities? . . . There are a lot of blacks and Latinos in the community. Where are they?” she said.

The committee has only white and Asian-American members, which isn’t reflective of the community, Batiste said.

Task force members said they will ask the City Council and school board to appoint about four or more new members, expanding the committee to 20 or 21 people.

The committee will also consider asking officials to appoint more students and teachers so that all areas of the city are represented. City Councilwoman Paula Werner, who is not on the committee, said she would like to see more members from the Northwood, Turtle Rock and University Park communities.

The task force also decided to meet at 7 p.m. each Wednesday, beginning Jan. 20.

City and school board officials formed the committee after youths reputed to be gang members fired semiautomatic handguns at a group of high school students in a pizza parlor’s parking lot during their lunch break. Two bystanders were wounded.

In another incident in December, a high school student fired a handgun at another student in a residential area after the two fought at school. No one was injured.