Accomplishments

• Prevented the rebuilding of over 150 problem liquor stores destroyed in the 1992 civil unrest (before the civil unrest, South Los Angeles had 728 alcohol outlets, more than 13 different states)
• Supported the development of 44 new non-alcohol-related businesses (such as Laundromats and markets without alcohol) and non-profits that replaced liquor stores destroyed in 1992.
• Developed a new ordinance adopted by the LA City Council that created stricter requirements for permits to locate additional alcohol outlets in South Los Angeles
• Won a significant legal decision by the California Supreme Court upholding the power of cities to regulate alcohol-related nuisance businesses.
• Youth led a successful fight to reduce the over-concentration of tobacco and alcohol advertising near South Los Angeles schools and pressured the major billboard company to pay for replacing the offensive billboards with 120 billboards displaying the teens’ own anti-tobacco design.
• Members launched a Public Safety Campaign in 1994 to clean up or close down nuisance businesses that commit illegal business activities that foster violence and drug-related crimes – six motels, liquor stores and recycling centers have been cleaned up or shut down to date.
• High school teens of South Central Youth Empowered Thru Action (SC-YEA) pressured the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to re-open repair and construction contracts granted by a $2.4 billion school bond, “Proposition Better Buildings” (Prop BB) and add $153 million dollars for additional school repairs previously overlooked for South LA and other inner-city schools in the LAUSD.
• Volunteers drafted legislation carried by State Senator Diane Watson to allow people with drug related felonies to continue eligibility for public assistance if they agree to enter treatment.
• SC-YEA teens convinced the LA City Council to pass a resolution opposing the Three Strikes ballot initiative in 1994.
• SC-YEA teens persuaded LA Board of Education members to pass a resolution opposing the anti-affirmative action ballot initiative Proposition 209 in 1996.
• Organized a voice for South LA residents on public assistance to participate in shaping how welfare reform policy is implemented in LA County – their first campaign victory in 1998 launched a pilot program in 5 South Los Angeles Dept. of Public Social Services (DPSS) offices to help prevent monthly eligibility (CA-7) forms from getting lost (lost forms are a major cause of thousands of eligible people, including children, being frequently cut off from aid.