GANGS PROJECT STALLED : LIST OF SCHOOLS CAUSES PANEL RIFT.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

A proposed $9 million anti-gang program targeting 18 middle schools citywide is in peril after some Los Angeles City Council members complained Monday that crime-plagued schools in their districts were excluded.

In response to the complaints, the council's Community and Economic Development Committee refused to send the $9 million L.A. Bridges program to the full council.

Instead, the committee ordered a retooling of the criteria for selecting schools for the program.

That process is likely to be complicated by parochial infighting among council members, given the comments Monday by several who complained that there weren't enough schools in their districts selected for the anti-gang money.

``It's a problem,'' Councilman Nate Holden said of the proposed list of 18 schools, which doesn't include any schools in his district.

``We have plenty of middle schools in my district that should benefit from this program,'' Holden said. ``There's as serious a gang problem there as anyplace else. Without it, they won't have my support.''

Councilman Richard Alarcon complained that only one middle school in his northeast San Fernando Valley district was selected, even though several have gang problems.

Alarcon said it appears parts of his district are being unfairly excluded because of the success of a volunteer-organized peace treaty between street gangs.

``All I know is the peace treaty is working and we're getting the shaft because it's working and that's not right,'' Alarcon said during the committee hearing. ``We're saying you are doing so good you get one school.''

Councilman Mike Hernandez, who has one school on the list, said he too was unhappy that other schools were left off.

``I'm finding it hard to be able to support the program as it stands,'' Hernandez said. ``I think again as a city we're blowing it.''

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who chaired the Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence that developed the initial proposal, said he hopes the program is not hurt by parochial demands that each council district get at least one school.

``Some of that doesn't surprise me,'' he said. ``I just hope it doesn't do violence to what can be an effective program.''

Told of Holden's objection that his district is entirely excluded, Ridley-Thomas said that one of the four schools chosen in his district, Audubon Middle School, is across Martin Luther King Boulevard from Holden's district boundary and serves children from Holden's district.

The 18 schools on the list include three in the San Fernando Valley - Sutter, Fulton and Maclay.

Community Development Department administrator Gloria Clarke told the council panel the 18 schools were picked because they are in the 18 Los Angeles Police Department reporting districts with the highest rate of violent crime.

Ridley-Thomas said use of the violent crime reports is a ``perfectly legitimate'' way of picking the schools. But he said he is open to looking at other ways of selecting schools, as long as it does not cause excessive delays.

``It's a solid concept,'' said Ridley-Thomas.

``If any member of the council thinks the schools in his or her district need to be adjusted, that's acceptable,'' he said. ``But I don't see that as a reason for delay.''

Monday's dispute represents the third time in recent months that the City Council has delayed action on an issue because of disagreement over which council districts get a share of limited resources.

Last month, the council delayed action on allocating funds to repair railroad crossings in the valley until additional money could be found for non-Valley communities.

Non-Valley council members also briefly blocked an overhaul of city sewer service charges because of concerns that it would benefit larger lots in the warmer Valley climate.

The L.A. Bridges anti-gang proposal calls for spending $9 million at 18 schools, broken down as follows:

Four in Rita Walters' district, four in Ridley-Thomas' district, three in Rudy Svorinich's district and one each in the districts of Alarcon, Hernandez, Joel Wachs, Laura Chick, John Ferraro, Jackie Goldberg and Richard Alatorre.

None was selected in the districts of Holden, Marvin Braude, Hal Bernson, Mike Feuer or Ruth Galanter.

Hernandez said the program was developed in response to the shooting death of a toddler in Cypress Park and clashes between the LAPD and gang members in Lincoln Heights - but that neither community is proposed to participate.

Through L.A. Bridges, money would be given to a non-profit agency selected through competitive bidding that would set up programs in the neighborhoods surrounding the schools.

Working with Community Oversight Councils, the non-profit agency would provide prevention and intervention programs, including after-school activities, youth and parent counseling, mentoring, career development assistance and violence-reduction training.

Alatorre complained that only one school in his district was targeted and it is not in LAPD's Hollenbeck Division - which he said has one of the worst gang-violence problems in the city.

``It's hard for me to understand how some areas that have problems were not included in this,'' Alatorre said. ``I can tell you this way leaves some glaring holes that are outrageous.''

Clarke and some community leaders said the city might want to look at other criteria for selecting the schools, including dropout rates, poverty levels and crime directly related to schools.

The committee agreed to meet again in future weeks to consider using other criteria for selecting schools.

Parker Anderson, the general manager of the Community Development Department, said it is essential that the new anti-gang program have the support of city officials for it to work.

``The one thing we can't tolerate in this city is where we are not behind it collectively for the long haul,'' Anderson told the panel.

Meanwhile, committee members also voiced concern Monday that the existing Community Youth Gang Services program is laying off many of its workers as county fund dries up.

The council panel agreed to hold a special meeting in the next two weeks to discuss interim funding of the program while a new program can be financed.