Multi-Agency Program Tackles Neighborhood Blight

Luis Lopez knocked on the door of an apartment on Cohasset Street in Winnetka, where flies hovered over the complex’s swimming pool and algae covered the bottom.

When Maritza Maltez answered, Lopez--a community resource specialist with the Los Angeles city attorney’s office--asked her about neighborhood problems and what the city could do to address them.

Gangs, Maltez said.

“It’s so insecure to be outside,” said Maltez, 23, holding her 2-year-old daughter in the doorway. “You don’t feel comfortable.”

As of last week, Lopez and other city officials had asked 75 apartment residents about their neighborhood under a nuisance abatement program that aims to clean up a portion of Winnetka with the assistance of police and various city agencies.

Domestic violence, drug sales, car break-ins, speeding in alleys, gang activity and rats head residents’ lists of concerns. They also say they need more recreation centers and affordable housing.

Since January, the Los Angeles Police Department, the city attorney’s office and the building and safety, planning and housing departments have targeted the area, which has 8,400 residents, to reduce crime and blight.

The nuisance abatement program has also launched neighborhood block projects in Boyle Heights, Watts, Mar Vista and North Hills.

“We are trying to bring resources and educate residents, property owners and business owners before the problem really gets out of control,” said Deputy City Atty. Tina Hess.

City officials coordinate graffiti cleanups, provide extra lighting in dark alleys, plant grass, rehabilitate abandoned properties and encourage apartment owners to fix and paint neglected buildings. The city attorney’s office and police also target drug dealers and help building owners evict tenants involved in crime.

Although the project includes homeowners and businesses, officials are focusing on improving conditions for apartment dwellers, many of them low-income Latinos.

Odell Mack, who lives in a house in the targeted area, said he has already seen improvements, including fewer abandoned vehicles on the streets and an increased police presence. If officials improve the area’s neglected pockets, the whole community benefits, he said.

“I hope we’re able to get a higher consciousness with people to want to see the neighborhood free of drugs and crime,” said Mack, who is on the local community police advisory board.