OPEN GOVERNMENT — L.A. Weekly reports as an update that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa released the names of 50 previously unidentified citizens on a key contract-awarding committee after the paper's story, "Why Do Secret Citizens Control the Gang Contracting?" went to press on Tuesday evening. The criticism, noted here earlier, deals with
Villaraigosas unprecedented decision to create a committee of about 50 anonymous private citizenswhose own backgrounds and conflicts are unknownto decide where to award $24 million in taxpayer funds. Under a shroud of secrecy, Villaraigosas committee is handing out huge infusions of money to local contractors, all of whom claim their programs will keep kids out of gangs.
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Villaraigosa chose as (Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) task force) director the Rev. Jeff Carr, an evangelical minister who works with tough kids but, not unlike those who ran the disastrous L.A. Bridges program, has never publicly produced hard evidence that he, himself, has actually kept kids from joining gangs.
With GRYD, somebody is going to end up very wealthy, and there wont be a stop to gang violence, says Richard Valdemar, a retired Sheriffs Department sergeant with 33 years experience fighting gangs, and a frequent critic of local government.
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Villaraigosa chose as (Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) task force) director the Rev. Jeff Carr, an evangelical minister who works with tough kids but, not unlike those who ran the disastrous L.A. Bridges program, has never publicly produced hard evidence that he, himself, has actually kept kids from joining gangs.
With GRYD, somebody is going to end up very wealthy, and there wont be a stop to gang violence, says Richard Valdemar, a retired Sheriffs Department sergeant with 33 years experience fighting gangs, and a frequent critic of local government.
