EAST LOS ANGELES : Molina Criticized Over Halt in Funding

Teen-agers and others who participated in the embattled Hope in Youth anti-gang program last week protested Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina’s decision not to back county funding of the program.

The youths, who for nine months have taken part in street cleanups, mural painting, graffiti paint-outs and tutoring programs, say they are angry at Molina for dropping her support of the program and pushing the Board of Supervisors’ decision last month not to extend $350,000 to the group as a stopgap measure pending the arrival of federal funds due this year.

The board’s decision forced the year-old organization to close 22 of its 42 centers countywide.

The county was the largest of several financial backers of the program, funding almost $3 million of its $7.4-million budget last year. But with the county facing fiscal problems and other, more experienced programs operating with fewer dollars, the supervisors voted against the additional money.

Officials with Hope in Youth, which is supported by some of the county’s most prominent religious leaders such as Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese, said it would lay off half of its 120-member field staff in addition to closing more than half of the county centers. It was awaiting additional funding under the federal crime bill.

The two centers on the Eastside, at La Trinidad United Methodist Church, 3565 E. 1st St., and San Francisco Catholic Church, 4800 E. Olympic Blvd., are not funded with county dollars and will remain open, said Guy Torres, director of the East Los Angeles Leadership Council, a Hope in Youth organization.

But the protesters, who picketed outside Molina’s office with hand-lettered signs, nevertheless said they believe Molina’s position sends the wrong signal to officials and could jeopardize future funding of the program from other sources.

Molina did not bend. She said she has seldom seen the youths out in the community and has not seen evidence that the program has curtailed gang membership.

“They want county funding for their program and Gloria does not support that,” said Carole Thomas-Fajardo, Molina’s director of field operations. “She doesn’t feel that they lived up to what they promised they would provide in the community, and she has to be careful with taxpayers’ money.”

The youths, however, said Molina has shown little interest in attending their events and has misrepresented their work.

“She’s not supportive of what the youth want to do,” said Michelle Pinedo, 17, whose 14-year-old brother, Marcos, was killed in a drive-by shooting four years ago. She had gathered letters from fellow students at Garfield High School in support of the program before the supervisors’ vote.

“I just wish I could talk to her,” she said.

Mostly, the teen-agers were perplexed at the sudden turnabout from Molina, who had supported the program at its inception, Torres said.

“It really has obstructed the vision and the work that the youth were doing,” Torres said. “Instead of harnessing and tapping into what they’ve been doing, they’re trying to destroy it.”

Torres’ leadership council has about 60 members from eight different schools, he said. They meet at least once a week to organize job-readiness training classes, mentor younger members and arrange town hall meetings at which parents and youths meet to discuss community concerns and improve communication between the generations. The group’s next big plan is to organize elementary school children into councils that will address school issues.