LA HABRA : She Won’t Surrender in Blight Fight

Bullets, rocks and the unleashed anger of street gangs have not stopped Dorothy Rush from trying to improve her city.

She has endured a piece of hell in her Grace/Pacific neighborhood and has been pressing City Hall for two years to take a bigger role in dealing with the area’s run-down and neglected properties.

Rush, a 30-year Grace Avenue resident, is again knocking on the doors at City Hall for help. Rush wants the city to adopt stronger local laws that would force residents and landlords to clean up their houses and apartments, and front yards. She believes improving the area’s appearance would demonstrate that residents will not tolerate gang intimidation.

As founder of the Grace/Pacific Neighborhood Watch, Rush persuaded police six months ago to step up patrols. The increased presence has resulted in a significant decrease in gang activity, officials said.

Over the years, Rush has held meetings at her house with some landlords and tenants to press them to maintain their properties. She has had success with some but failed with most. A few landlords have evicted tenants who refused to keep the properties clean.

This has lead to charges from some tenants, who accuse Rush of meddling.

“Whenever there is an eviction, they think I’m responsible because I head the Neighborhood Watch and the Grace/Pacific Community Assn.,” Rush said, pointing out bullet holes in her walls, windows and blinds, which she says were fired at her home in retribution for her activism.

Police Capt. John Rees suspects gang members who have been evicted from their homes. They “probably harbor some ill will toward Dorothy,” he said.

The most recent incident was 3 a.m. April 17, when melon-sized cinder blocks crashed through Rush’s bedroom and living room windows. One hit her lower back while another grazed her cat and another shattered her dresser mirror. Panicked, Rush stepped on the broken window glass on her way to phone police. She still has pieces of glass embedded in her feet.

Previously, her house has been sprayed with bullets, and vandals in February smashed the living room window and scribbled the name of a neighborhood gang in large black letters on the front of her house. No arrests were made in the incidents, police said.

Almost on a monthly basis, graffiti appears on Rush’s driveway, home or truck and gunshots usually follow.

“It’s a scary feeling and it makes me mad,” Rush said. “This retaliation’s got to stop. . . . I just want to clean up the area.”

A self-described gang member, who refused to give his name, said the neighborhood youths don’t like Rush because “she’s always thinking bad of us, looking down on us and calling police even when we’re just talking on the street corner.”

After Rush and other community activists last week blasted city officials for their failure to wipe out the blight, the City Council and City Manager Lee Risner promised to have an anti-blight ordinance in place within months.

“I hope” the promises will be fulfilled, Rush said with a hint of skepticism.

“I am no longer going to sit quietly waiting for the city to take action. You haven’t heard the last of me yet.”