Clinton’s Plan for Youth Club Visit Creates a Stir : Politics: President will speak in Santa Ana during 3-day swing through state. NBA stars O’Neal and Olajuwon may also appear.

For once, Highland Avenue was the safest street in Orange County.

After news spread up and down the street that President Clinton will stop at the local Boys and Girls Club on Friday, police officers and Secret Service agents spread up and down the street too.

At first, residents seemed mildly intrigued by the bristling show of force and the strange, unexplained announcement that “El Presidente” was coming to their modest neighborhood that has seen its share of crime and drugs but never a presidential visit.

Jose Valdovinos, a gray-haired man sitting in the sun, said he had never seen an American President in the flesh before--only the Mexican variety.

Then, as rumors spread that Clinton would likely be met at the club by professional basketball superstars Shaquille O’Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon, people stood in the street and snuck furtive peeks at the humble green-and-purple building where such an awesome summit may take place.

Clinton will visit the club as part of a three-day California swing. His day in Orange County will begin with his arrival at Tustin Marine Corps Air Station about 10 a.m. He will then visit the Boys and Girls Club, return to the base to meet with Orange County business and Democratic Party leaders, tape his Saturday morning radio show and then fly to San Diego.

Olajuwon and O’Neal are reportedly being lured here by Orange County-based Taco Bell, which uses the athletes in its national advertising and hopes to use them as spokesmen for a major partnership with Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

White House officials and Taco Bell officials would not confirm the basketball players’ appearance. But officials close to the planning said they are indeed expected.

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“Shaq and Hakeem have been invited as role models, and to act as national spokespersons for the Teen Supreme program,” said one source, who insisted on anonymity. “And the President is expected to applaud the effort.”

“Teen Supreme” is a new program intended to keep young people in crime-ridden neighborhoods out of gangs and away from drugs.

Taco Bell Foundation is expected to pledge $15 million over five years to Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the nation, in an effort to create more after-school opportunities, more job-training programs and more safe havens for play and camaraderie.

Delicate choreography will be required to bring the trio together during Clinton’s tightly scheduled Friday morning stop, his 20th visit to California and his first to Orange County since the funeral of Richard M. Nixon, in April, 1994.

Even though officials would not confirm O’Neal’s and Olajuwon’s participation in Clinton’s visit, young soccer players outside the Santa Ana club already regard the meeting as a certainty.

“What’s going on?” a teen-ager asked warily as he entered the club, walking uneasily past a phalanx of burly men in blue blazers with pensive expressions and sophisticated walkie-talkies--presumably the Secret Service.

“Hakeem is coming,” another teen-ager whispered.

If the teens were later informed that Clinton was coming, too, it may have been as an afterthought.

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In fact, it seemed at times that local residents believed the beefed-up security was standard operating procedure whenever an NBA great sets an oversized foot in the real world.

In neighborhood straw polls, in other words, Clinton was running a distant third.

“No big deal,” said a man who lives near the club.

He would not give his name, after police visited his family and asked a lot of questions about their comings and goings.

“To me,” he said, “[Clinton’s] just a regular guy.”

Ah, but asked if he would affect the same nonchalance if he sees O’Neal and Olajuwon striding into the building, the man smiled and admitted, OK, that would be a different story.

It is not uncommon for police to visit the street, the man and other neighbors said sadly.

It is not uncommon for police to make several arrests in an afternoon.

But there was a ripple of tension and excitement Wednesday, an aura of added importance, to think that this time the omnipresent police might have had something to do with national security.

Actually, Santa Ana police officers said their added numbers Wednesday were not related to Clinton’s visit; police merely investigated reports of shots fired and a weapon being brandished the night before, said Lt. Robert Helton.

But several young men were detained for questioning in connection with the reported shooting, and the presence of so many police--fewer than 48 hours before the announcement of a major initiative to help “at-risk” youth--seemed a powerful symbol.

Highland is said to be sandwiched between rival gangs, leaving its young residents stranded in a perpetual cross-fire.

Three weeks ago, said an employee of the club, gang members began firing indiscriminately at a car that stopped suddenly in the middle of the street. No one was injured.

Some residents said they hoped a visit from President would raise awareness about such problems.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” said 28-year-old Michael Ruston, who lives near the Boys and Girls Club, “that [Clinton’s] taking the time to just come out and be, you know, see what’s going on in the community.”