Issue: What Has Changed in Your Community Since the Riots?

* Mark Ridley-Thomas, City Councilman, 8th District A considerable amount has been done in the way of rebuilding. In many instances, it was the corporate kind of facilities, such as grocery stores and gas stations, that were looted or destroyed. These were companies with substantial credit lines and the ability to rebound. Some smaller stores have come back as well, but there’s a lot to be done.

The human relations of the city have a long way to go still. It makes no sense to put this issue on the back burner.

I think the public and private sectors have not done enough to deal with what is a very complex situation. This is an unprecedented phenomenon we are faced with in being the most diverse city known to humankind. We’re without example and we’re trying to feel our way through that.

* Mike Hernandez, City Councilman, 1st District There’s a lot of leadership emerging in the district. And when you empower a community, it’s long-lasting. There’s been a lot of community participation in this process. For instance, we now have neighborhood organizations forming child-care centers, and a lot more community groups--like the Central American Resource Center--are being recognized by the city.

There’s more understanding among the ethnic groups because they are working together more. I see a different kind of atmosphere. There’s a lot more attention being paid to the district. . . .

We’ve done more than our fair share of building back what was lost. A good percentage of the buildings that were affected have been reconstructed. I credit the people of Pico-Union with really starting the cleanup process.

* Jerry Yu, executive director, Korean American Coalition The riots really were the most devastating thing for the Korean American community in its history. The community will never be the same again for a lot of different reasons. Not only because of the things that were damaged and destroyed, but it’s had an ancillary affect on other areas of the community.

A lot of Korean Americans patronize Korean American businesses. A lot of these same businesses are financed by Korean American banks. These had great losses--as did people like lawyers and accountants who depend on businesses for their livelihood.

It was clear to us last year that the government was not going to come in and rescue L.A. If we want to restore some of L.A. to the way it was, then we’re going to have to do it ourselves.

* Carlos Vaquerano, director of public information, Central American Resource Center There have not been any dramatic changes in Pico-Union. We still have the same problems--poverty, gangs, violence. If anything, it’s slightly worse. Not because of the disturbances, but because of the recession that’s still continuing.

More attention has been focused on the community. Corporations like Arco have come in and helped. Unfortunately, it seems like there has to be an event like the disturbances to bring attention to areas like this. But there has not been much investment. Compared to areas like South-Central, we really haven’t received anything.

* Craig Herron, LAPD officer , 77th Street Division There’s a different community attitude. The unemployment is worse and the social problems are still here. But there’s a different attitude, a better attitude. I know the Police Department has a good attitude.

We hit a low point two years ago. When there’s rioting, you can’t go much lower than that. But I think the community feels a lot better about things now. I don’t know whether (the riots) were letting off steam or what. I’d hate to speculate about that. But if you come down here, you can feel the difference.

There’s always been good people here and there will always be good people here. That’s who we work for. We don’t always see them because we come in contact with so many bad people.

* Father Pete Neeley, Dolores Mission Catholic Church The Eastside has benefited from a lot of the Rebuild LA projects. We’ve gotten money and services from the city (and) they’ve come over and helped us with some projects.

There’s been a heightened awareness of the different racial problems that we’ve had in the past. Plus there’s a lot more sensitivity on the part of the police.

So it’s been more positive than negative as far as the changes go. But it’s still bad here. It’s not a case of neglect, but we didn’t riot here so we haven’t had as much of the attention as other areas have received.

* Linda Griego, president and CEO, Rebuild L.A. I’m an 18-year resident of Baldwin Hills, and the impact of the civil unrest was very much right there. I’ve seen great improvement but there’s been a slowness on other parts. On Crenshaw Boulevard, there’s been a great difference from two years ago.

I’ve seen a lot of the rebuilding process, but there’s still a lot of vacant lots. As a resident, having to drive through it, it upsets me. The longer the lots are vacant, the more people tend to forget.

There’s been a notoriety for community groups. They’ve been in the trenches a long time, but now they are getting more recognition. There’s no doubt we just have to keep pressing on. You’ve got the infrastructure there in a lot of places. It’s just a matter of filling in.

* Carmelo Alvarez, director of Human Services, California Conservation Corps, MacArthur Park What’s happened in the last two years is that it hasn’t gotten better. We have a new mayor now who represents what I guess you call the dominant culture. (Now) the emphasis is on law enforcement. . . . community policing as opposed to more education, more economic development. Because of the violence, the repression has increased instead of getting at the real causes, which are poor distribution of wealth and (a lack of) education.

* Kiak Tae, student at Cleveland High, Echo Park In my opinion, things have changed. People are more friendly, I think, because they learned what can happen. Things can’t get worse than (a riot).

It’s kind of scary, but a lot of people have learned from what happened. They learned that selfishness can’t achieve anything but community destruction. But I’m more scared since the riots. I still won’t go out at night.

* Mark Hayden, unemployed, Downtown It seems to be more peaceful now. There’s not as much tension. I don’t notice much racial tension.

At least that’s how it is where I live. Are people trying to understand each other? I don’t think people think that far. At least not street people. Maybe other people do.

I’ve never felt unsafe. If something were to happen, it’s going to happen. I still go out at night.

* Precious Bryan, office technician, South-Central It’s calmed down in the last two years. The store owners are nicer; everybody’s not so uptight. The police have pretty much settled down. But at the same time, they’ve got their guards up.

(The civil unrest) hurt our community, I know that. People are more understanding now; there’s more respect. But that’s not a permanent change. Not at all.

* Veronica Bencomo, assistant director of Human Services, California Conservation Corps, Highland Park The gangs in the neighborhood where I grew up have gotten closer. They’re all together as one. But there’s more tension between Chicanos and blacks. I feel, as a youth, that part of the problem is that we don’t understand our own culture, so how are we supposed to understand someone else’s?

If the youth understand more about their culture and other cultures, they would understand where other opinions are coming from. You have to educate the youth first.