Pacoima Activists Form New Coalition to Close Rift in Black Community

A new coalition aimed at unifying several factions within Pacoima’s black community that have been at odds in recent months was formed Saturday, said a longtime activist who was elected as the group’s spokesman.

“This is the first real step toward a total community effort,” said William Huling, a counselor and psychology professor at Cal State Northridge. “The black community was too fragmented.”

Huling’s remarks came after a two-hour, closed-door meeting attended by about 40 black leaders at the Boys and Girls Club in Pacoima.

“The problems have been ironed out,” he said. “They’re behind us now.”

The rift among black leaders surfaced earlier this month when the Ministers’ Fellowship of the San Fernando Valley threatened to mount a recall drive against Los Angeles Councilman Ernani Bernardi, who they claimed reneged on a campaign promise to appoint a black field deputy nominated by the group.

Instead, Bernardi appointed Richard Packard, head of the Black American Political Assn., as a field representative, a position that ranks below a deputy.

Some Bernardi supporters who are black sharply criticized the fellowship, which represents more than 40 churches in the northeast Valley, for its attack on the councilman.

One critic said the ministers should stay out of politics and remain in the pulpit.

The fellowship had set a Sept. 30 deadline for Bernardi to appoint a black deputy, but the Rev. James Lyles, who heads the group, said Saturday that the ministers will not try to recall the councilman.

“That battle has been lost,” he said. Lyles also said his group would cooperate with Packard.

The furor over the threatened recall of Bernardi also led to the fellowship’s severing ties last week with its political consultant, Fred Taylor, after the ministers learned that he was paid $3,000 to do campaign work for Bernardi.

Lyles, pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Pacoima, said the organization, which endorsed Bernardi, was concerned over perceptions that its political support “could be bought and sold.”

The coalition formed Saturday will work closely with Packard, Huling said.

Despite the ministers’ anger over Bernardi’s failure to name a black deputy, “the community’s not divided about the appointment of Packard,” Huling said.

There will be no recall effort against Bernardi because the reasons for the recall “have been removed,” Huling added.

Both Taylor and Lyles are members of a panel elected to formulate goals for the coalition.

The two men said, however, that they will continue their work with their respective organizations--Lyles with the ministers fellowship and Taylor with Focus 90, an organization of homeowners’ groups--as well as with the new coalition.

“If everybody sticks to their guns, there’s going to be some positive things coming out of this,” Taylor said of the coalition. “But Focus 90 will continue.”

Lyles said the fellowship also will maintain its autonomy.

Others on the coalition steering committee are Huling, Jose de Sosa, head of the state NAACP and a longtime Pacoima resident; Marie Harris, head of the Pacoima Property Owners Assn.; the Rev. Alfred Lewis, a member of the ministers fellowship; and community activists Tom Montgomery and Ed Kussman.

Huling, a Pacoima resident since 1962, said he and Michael Augustus, another longtime community activist, organized Saturday’s meeting because they didn’t like the schisms they saw developing among blacks in the community.

Huling said the meeting was closed to the news media so that black leaders could sort out their differences without fear of being quoted by newspapers.

He said the coalition will hold a communitywide meeting to discuss common problems at 11 a.m. Oct. 13 at the Boys and Girls Club.