Community Team Strives for a Positive Impact on Blythe Street

For years, Blythe Street in Panorama City represented the worst of the Valley: decaying apartments, drug dealing and gangs that patrolled the street like militiamen. But since August, 1992, the Valley’s worst slum has become the target of an interagency effort to provide government, business and nonprofit services to revitalize the blighted area and empower residents.

Fashioned after a similar program on nearby Delano Street, the Blythe Street Community Impact Team (CIT) coordinates the often-parallel efforts of these agencies through the use of a facilitator and strategic-planning techniques. The CIT meets regularly as a whole and in committees, including housing/enforcement, recreation and education, enhancement, outreach/human services, jobs and economic development.

Susan Banks is one of the leaders of the CIT and a rehabilitation coordinator for the City Housing Department. She spoke with Times correspondent Jeff Schnaufer.

Question: Why should so many agencies be pouring so much effort into one little strip of pavement in the Valley?

A: The spillover effects from an area like that are so strong that they’re like a cancer. If you don’t remedy it, it spreads to other parts of the Valley. That particular street also has a very concentrated population that for years has been in desperate need of services.

Q: What kind of services have you been providing? Can you be specific?

A: Educational, making sure the children are enrolled and are getting the support services they need to stay in school. Intervention activities to support them, such as LAPD’s Jeopardy program which deals with at-risk youth. A number of field trips to places like the zoo or going to summer camp for a week. Obtaining jobs for the youth during the summer through the Community Development Department summer youth employment training program. Having a basketball league during the summer. Getting the community to participate in ongoing, regular street cleanup through the enhancement team.

Starting a food bank under the auspices of the L. A. County Community Center and the involved nonprofits. We’re beginning on-the-job training for a low-income housing construction project on the street. Getting health services, prenatal care for a number of households that were receiving none. Finding temporary shelter for households that could no longer afford rent.

Q: What have been the CIT’s major challenges on Blythe Street?

A: On that street particularly, the gang and drug element is so entrenched, so pervasive. We have really had to re-strategize along the way to achieve some of the objectives we have set. The other challenge has been creating effective outreach. Another thing, in terms of the challenges, is having effective interagency cooperation and the ability to work smoothly together.

Q: Let’s go back to the gang and drug element. What are some of the objectives that the CIT had and what needed to be rethought?

A: One of them was increasing arrests. There were some specific measures that LAPD had to increase arrests, but it was very difficult because of the intimidation factor, because of the gangs. You could not get residents or owners to report crimes. Police drug experts initially could not get involved because there weren’t enough crime statistics to justify their presence.

Q: How did your group help out?

A: We met together as a group, and through the process of strategic planning and working on an interdepartmental basis, we came up with strategies to get more data on crime and also make more arrests through increased foot patrols and getting the narcotics unit, which used to report from downtown, to work directly out of the Valley office. And ultimately having the injunction, because traditional methods weren’t working.

Q: You mean the injunction passed by the city of Los Angeles that bars known gang members on Blythe Street from congregating. Has it been effective in reducing crime?

A: Yes. From some of the reports we’re getting from the police and from the probation department, a lot of the gang members have literally disappeared. There’s also a special system to tag the filings on the offenders so that they’re followed throughout the system.

Q: Some reports indicate that the gang members are just moving to other streets to deal drugs. Is it possible that this injunction is just pushing them into other areas?

A: That is very possible. They have gone on to other areas like Pacoima. However, the strategy is that the offenders are being closely followed and they are being put out of action. One of the strategies of the team is to go for strong sentences and that involves educating the judges as to how pervasive and serious the nature of the gang activity is.

Q: What about improving affordable housing on the street? What has the CIT done?

A: Our department is involved in running several programs there. Through the production unit (of the housing department), loans for acquisition and new construction or acquisition and rehabilitation are available to create new housing on the street, such as the LACA Nelson project that is currently under construction.

Q: Many of the apartment buildings on the street are dilapidated and teeming with building and fire code violations. What efforts are the CIT making to make these complexes safe for the residents?

A: Through the neighborhood preservation program, loans are available to property owners to rehabilitate their property. Assistance is also provided to tenants at the completion of rehab. Through the housing enforcement team, we are systematically working to correct code violations with Building and Safety, Los Angeles County Heath Department and Housing Department programs to penalize owners who are not keeping the buildings up to code.

Q: Some apartment owners complain that they still are unable to rid their buildings of drug-dealing tenants. Last October, a landlord who took a stand against such dealings in his building was killed by gang members. What is the CIT doing to help these landlords?

A: The injunction itself arose in a large part because of what happened to Don Aragib. In addition, through the housing enforcement team and the hearings that we’ve been holding on the buildings, we seek to work with the owners on dealing with what many times is a gang and drug problem.

We have also held meetings with owners and provided technical assistance on strong management techniques, better maintenance, how to design better security for the building and share information about problem tenants who try to move from one building to another.

Q: Is there any danger that the CIT could be dictating the changes it perceives are needed on the street, rather than listening to the desires of the residents?

A: The consulting firm of Keilty, Goldsmith & Co., which is based in the San Diego area, is working with an outreach team to identify and assess the level to which residents know about our programs and are satisfied with them. The outreach team will keep itself accountable to the residents and the property owners, who we view as being our clients.

Q: At this point, what is the CIT’s greatest disappointment?

A: Not being able to move as quickly or efficiently as we thought we could initially. It has been incredibly tough. Communication and coordination is a constant problem. There’s a lot of agencies, a lot of things going on and it takes a tremendous amount of time and facilitation on the part of team members.

Q: And the greatest success?

A: It’s actually having some of the residents come to the outreach meetings and candidly articulate their willingness to work together with us on that street. And also the perseverance of the team members to push through on what has been a tough process. They really reached outside themselves and their jobs to get results. There’s just a lot of personal commitment there.