CITY TOOK THE RIGHT STEPS IN GANG ORDINANCE

Costa Mesa leaders Monday took a step in the right direction to help aid
the city's police officers when they tentatively approved a law that evicts
tenants convicted of drug-or gang-related crimes.

The criminal eviction law, when it becomes official as early as April, will
require landlords to evict tenants convicted of such crimes.

When first proposed in May, the law would have evicted tenants who have
been arrested on suspicion of such crimes, which places guilt on someone
before his or her fate is given to a court or jury. We support the new law
and are glad city officials reworked it to allow those arrested their due
process.

Officials based the tentatively adopted law on a Buena Park law that has
been enforced 150 times -- only gang-related. And that should also be
expected in Costa Mesa. After all, as it has been pointed out, most
gang-related activities don't occur at home, but drug-related crimes do.

But what the new law can do is prevent and combat crime while holding
landlords more accountable for their tenants, said Costa Mesa Police Lt.
Tom Curtis. Of Costa Mesa's 63 drug-related cases in 2000, about 10
offenders would be evicted under this new law, he said.

One resident pointed out that a criminal is still due an appeal after a
conviction and, while we cannot argue that, the eviction will provide the
convicted's fellow tenants a greater and much deserved peace of mind.

What we really anticipate, however, is the test of time. The city will
obviously monitor this law's progress once it goes into effect, and we will
eagerly await the results to determine whether the law's worth keeping.

Until then, we hope it can at least help the police in deterring some crime
and help some residents feel safer.