PANEL BACKS GROUP FOR PACT TO FIGHT GANGS PROJECT SEEKS TO COORDINATE EFFORTS.Byline: Dan Laidman Staff Writer A nonprofit group seeking a $465,000 contract to develop a comprehensive anti-gang strategy for Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. won the endorsement Monday of the City Council's budget panel. The consulting project is part of the city's wider effort to evaluate the tens of millions of dollars spent each year combating gangs and trying to keep young people away from violent lifestyles. ``What the city has is a whole bunch of uncoordinated un·co·or·di·nat·ed adj. 1. Lacking physical or mental coordination. 2. Lacking planning, method, or organization. un , unsynergistic programs, some of which do some very good work but not to scale and not together,'' civil-rights lawyer Connie Rice told the Budget and Finance Committee. City analysts picked 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. , a nonprofit policy and legal advocacy group run by Rice, to evaluate the programs and create an anti-gang road map for the city. The Advancement Project proposes to draw in experts from academia, law enforcement and public health while examining successful programs in other cities. Consultants will seek ways the city can hone its gang-prevention and intervention efforts, currently spread across dozens of programs costing $26 million a year. ``I think it's long overdue to look at the preventive strategies,'' Councilwoman Wendy Greuel Wendy Greuel is President Pro Tempore of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 2nd District. Greuel was elected in 2002 to fill the remainder of the term of Councilman Joel Wachs. She was elected in her own right in 2003 and reelected in 2007. said. Gangs are ``a growing problem'' in her east 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. district, she said, and she asked Rice to be sure to consult with Valley experts. While the contract is for six months, officials have indicated a willingness to consider extending it. Rice said she wants to examine whether Los Angeles and neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. cities are getting their fair share of state money to fight youth violence, an undertaking she said could take a year. The consultant's findings will help officials decide whether to pursue a proposal to consolidate all the prevention and intervention programs into a single anti-gang agency. The Advancement Project has also drawn the approval of the city'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 Gang Violence and Youth Development. The contract now goes to the full City Council for a vote. Dan Laidman, (213) 978-0390 dan.laidman(at)dailynews.com |
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