Advocates Say Layoffs Threaten 'One Watts' and Many Children

ONE WATTS — The Los Angeles mayor's Chief of Staff, Jeff Carr (then the city's director of Gang Reduction and Youth Development), speaking to youth at a character building basketball league match in the summer of 2008. The game was part of what would one day become known as the One Watts program, a collaboration between the recreation centers at Nickerson Gardens, Jordan Downs and Imperial Courts housing projects in Watts. The program could be hit with a significant reduction due to city budget cuts.

Budget cuts by the City of Los Angeles threaten to gut a program that some community members describe as vital for youth who live in the area of three public housing projects in Watts that are notorious for gang violence and other crime.

The One Watts program is a collaborative effort that centers on the city-operated recreation centers at the Nickerson Gardens, Jordan Downs and Imperial Courts housing projects. The program currently provides lunch-time services and after-school activities for at-risk youth at Markham Middle School on the 1600 block of E. 104th Street — a facility viewed as neutral ground amid patches of gang territories, or "turf." Current projections indicate that eight of nine Department of Recreation and Parks staff members who work on the One Watts program could lose their jobs as the city seeks to shed payroll.

The budget cuts are under consideration as the city faces budget deficits of $73 million over the next several months and hundreds of millions of dollars for the next several years under current operating structures. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been a major proponent of reducing labor costs as a component of plans to bring the budget into balance. He has estimated that 4,000 positions could be trimmed in coming months.

A veteran staffer of the One Watts program said effects of large layoffs will go beyond the employees who lose their jobs, though.

"The mayor's approach is going to have a negative impact — racial tension, gang activity, etcetera — the very issues that we are working hard to eliminate," said Carl Stevens, acting senior director of the recreation facility at Nickerson Gardens.

Stevens said the One Watts program helps ease tensions felt by many youngsters at home or is school.

Villaraigosa has not disputed the value of such programs, but he has spoken plainly about the need to re-examine city services in a review that could lead to the elimination of some long-standing programs.

"We are facing an unprecedented budget shortfall, and the mayor has been clear throughout this budget process that there are no easy solutions, and turning the city's budget around requires tough choices that clearly state our top priorities and reduce or eliminate services that we can no longer afford to provide," Sarah Hamilton, a spokesperson for the mayor, recently said in an e-mail to the L.A. Watts Times. "The mayor has also been clear that he does not relish making these decisions, but they are necessary to preserve the fiscal health of the city."

Hamilton did not respond to a number of specific questions from the Watts Times. A representative of the city's Department of Recreation and Parks did not return a request for comment, either.

Stevens, meanwhile, continued to make a case for the value of the One Watts program.

"We definitely see the benefits of this program," Stevens said. "Our whole idea was to blow up the perception that [the residents of the housing projects] can't get along. We see everyday how our staff are making a difference in these children's lives...It is well worth it to have this program in place."

Stevens noted that the program brings Hispanic and African American children together to play on the same sports teams, get help with their homework, learn team-building skills and take field trips together. It is all part of a process to teach the kids to see each other as human beings and not enemies, Stevens said.

Jack Foley, president of People for Parks.

Some advocates from outside the Watts district are also urging city officials to rethink the sort of cuts that would mean that others kids will face the challenges of life in the housing projects with such help.

"We understand some layoffs are necessary, but there's no common sense, no plan in place," said Jack Foley, president of People for Parks, a non-profit based in the Venice district on the Westside. "They're talking about laying off eight of nine staff members at the three housing projects."

People with Parks has struck up a relationship as a partner with the One Watts program. Members of the Venice groups recently took a group of kids from Watts to the Mountain High Ski Resort. Foley the recreation centers of the three housing projects have gone from being a "dumping ground for the worst employees" to having a staff of dedicated young people.

"This needs to be stopped," Foley said of the plans that could see all but one of the One Watts staffers laid off by June 30.

Tim Sullivan, principal of Markham Middle School, agrees. The school has approximately 1,500 students, with 70% or so Hispanic and most of the rest African American. The section of the city the school serves is also home to 24 active gangs, according to authorities.

"The recreation staff assists Markham not only by providing enrichment opportunities for our students," Sullivan said. "They also assist with safe passage to and from school. These (children's) lives are in danger when they are not involved. They are more than staff members; they are community liaisons."

Pat Munson is a writer for the L.A. Watts Times.

Photos courtesy of People For Parks.

Read more stories from the L.A. Watts Times »