COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:Comments on anti-gang proposal ignore real issues

The Pilot’s columns and letters regarding the council’s recent “gang initiative” study session were curious at best. All the various commentators failed to get to the bottom of the real issues. Instead of a discussion of the real problems, and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s failures in action and attitude, we have been treated to the usual hack comments claiming racist motives and the typical laying of blame at the feet of the Costa Mesa City Council majority.

Here are some noteworthy points that have been missed entirely in the ensuing clamor:

1. The City Council adopted and funded all of the enforcement-oriented aspects of the prior anti-gang proposal back in January of this year. Only the school district’s “interventionist” was not funded. Why was the whole program once again trotted out when, in fact, the obvious goal was to take another run at funding the interventionist and adding to the list of school district tie-ins, including more uniformed Costa Mesa police officers on campus and the attempt to foist the district’s truancy problems off on the city via a new law?

2. Nobody seems to be upset regarding school district representative Jane Garland’s comment at the study session that since the school district is a “basic aid district,” truancy does not affect the school’s income at all. Therefore, the school district sees the 200-plus daily truants as benefiting the schools by providing “smaller classes.” Where is the public outrage one would expect regarding the position Garland so casually articulated?

3. Mayor Allan Mansoor took issue with the school district’s abject failure in policing its own truancy issues, and he challenged the district to take care of its own problems.

4. Some have intimated that the “council majority” is behind the push to add more intrusive laws. This could not be further from the truth. Look at the staff reports, and note who is pushing these new initiatives: Return to Reason member and Katrina Foley supporter Police Lt. Clay Epperson appears to be the primary architect of the clamp-down on our young people. Read his quote in Sunday’s Daily Pilot supporting the curfew. Let’s face it: The socialistic left-wingers want the government to be bigger and to do everything for everybody. Oddly, there has been little concern voiced regarding this “nanny state” approach.

I believe that the school district needs to commit to policing its truants before it asks Costa Mesa to take on any further responsibility. I also firmly believe that past successes in eradicating gang problems prove that tough enforcement alone will get the job done. I agree with those who have stated that draconian measures such as a youth daytime curfew are unnecessary.

We also need to learn from past mistakes, which indicate that tough anti-gang enforcement must continue beyond the initial purge. You cannot weed your garden once and call the job done.

Despite the usual vitriol and hand-wringing, it is clear that the residents of Costa Mesa enthusiastically support ridding our streets of violent criminal street gangs. Let’s not be distracted. Rather, let’s stay keenly focused on eliminating the gang element from our city. Once we succeed, I would like to see us remain united in our vigilance to ensure that gangs never have the ability to put down new roots in our community.