Supporters of Anti-Gang Plan Oppose Cutoff

A group of City Council members said Thursday they oppose Mayor Richard Riordan’s plan to cut off funding for the anti-gang L.A. Bridges program.

An overflow crowd of more than 300 supporters of the program, including San Fernando Valley gang-intervention leader William “Blinky” Rodriguez, packed the City Council chambers.

Members of the council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Gangs and Juvenile Justice blasted Riordan’s budget proposal to eliminate funding in September and craft a new anti-gang program.

A recent critical audit by City Controller Rick Tuttle concluded that Bridges, which has cost $28 million since 1997, is so poorly operated that it should be shut down and overhauled.

The program, which provides after-school programs and counseling for nearly 7,000 students from 27 middle schools, needs to be better focused and scaled back to five to 10 schools, Tuttle said.

But council members, school principals, students and anti-gang workers said it is too early to give up on a program that has shown some promise, including a 50% drop in suspensions among participating teenagers.

Committee members said they are prepared to fight to restore funding while also pursuing improvements. Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, the panel’s chairman, said support for the program is so strong on the council that he predicted a two-thirds vote to override a mayoral veto, if necessary.