GANG-REPORT AUTHOR CALLS FOR CITY HALL PUSH BACKERS URGED TO PRESS CASE.Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer The author of a scathing report on Los Angeles' escalating gang problem urged activists and religious leaders Thursday to pressure the mayor and City Council to act on the report's proposed anti-violence reforms. In her report released two weeks ago, civil-rights attorney Connie Rice criticized the city's fragmented, uncoordinated un·co·or·di·nat·ed adj. 1. Lacking physical or mental coordination. 2. Lacking planning, method, or organization. un and ineffective gang-prevention efforts. Among other measures, the study called for a Department of Neighborhood Safety headed by a ``gang czar'' to coordinate intervention programs and be held accountable for whether gang prevention efforts are effective. But at the Empowerment Congress' interfaith dialogue Thursday, Rice told the group she worries city leaders may not act on the recommendations. ``I'm afraid the process is slowing down too much, and we need to have a full vote on the City Council floor. I'm not sure that will happen, so you're going to have to push for that,'' Rice said. ``The mayor is doing his own analysis of this and his own plan. Let's hope he wants to go to the comprehensive level.'' Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. is expected to unveil his gang strategy next week. City leaders are discussing whether to create a deputy mayor position to oversee gangs or to appoint a gang czar -- a position proposed by then-Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. in 1995. Councilman Tony Cardenas Tony Cardenas served in the California State Assembly. In the Assembly, he had the powerful position of chair of the Budget Committee. He is now a Los Angeles City Councilman, representing the 6th district, which includes parts of the San Fernando Valley. , who heads the City Council's ad hoc Committee ad hoc committee A committee formed with the purpose of addressing a specific issue or issues, which theoretically is disbanded once its raison d'etre is finished on Gangs and Youth Violence that commissioned Rice's $500,000 study, said he will make sure proposed reforms are enacted to better monitor and spend gang-prevention funds. ``Despite political agendas of the past, I will stay focused on what I need to do to ensure the city has the kind of accountability standards that the Schiff/Cardenas Act requires for our state-funded gang program,'' he said, referring to state legislation he drafted that mandated money for gang-prevention programs. The report by the Advancement Project The Advancement Project is an US nonprofit public charity founded in 2001. It has offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.. Co-Directors The Advancement Project's co-directors are Stephen English, Molly Munger (daughter of Charlie Munger), Constance L. Los Angeles comes on the heels of several high-profile murders of children by gangs and an increase in gang violence, particularly in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , which has historically had a much smaller gang problem compared with East and South Los Angeles South Los Angeles is the official name for a large geographic and cultural area lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still sometimes called South Central. . Yet the study is the third attempt to understand and stop rising gang violence. State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, who organized the Empowerment Congress, said his group will also pressure city leaders to action. ``There is no way we will let this issue loose steam.'' kerry.cavanaugh@dailynews.com (213) 978-0390 |
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