500 Attend 4th Annual Empowerment Congress for South L.A.

About 500 residents of South Los Angeles gathered Saturday seeking answers to a daunting question: How to make a massive city bureaucracy work for them.

If the fourth annual 8th Council District Empowerment Congress Convention, founded by City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, did not offer easy answers, it at least gave those attending a primer on getting things done in the second-largest city in the nation.

“At a time when the majority of people feel disconnected from government, this structure is a provocative example that a strong partnership is possible,” said Florence Jackson, a leader of one of the congress’ four geographic groups.

Participants, all involved in neighborhood block clubs, darted among conference rooms at USC to learn how to lure skittish developers into blighted communities, find access to the power structure at City Hall and combat political attacks on affirmative action.

“The idea is, if communities are going to change, it’s going to require the active involvement of residents,” said Ridley-Thomas. The 4-year-old congress boasts a growing list of successes, from helping persuade Federated Department Stores to keep its store at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza to turning a run-down, trash-strewn alley into a park. Several construction projects supported by the activists are in the works as well, from shopping malls to housing.

Participants said they were prepared for more improvements.

Orinio Opinaldo, leader of a block club on Brighton Avenue, said his group had forced the closure of seven drug houses, but problems with gangs and graffiti remain.

“We have a vision for our community,” he said.