Acosta, Young Trade Barbs as Race Heats Up : Campaign: Santa Ana councilman has been criticized for comments he reportedly made to gang members and is being accused of trying to win mayoral contest by creating racial strife.

SANTA ANA —  Community leaders, including the president of the Santa Ana Police Officers Assn., sternly criticized Councilman John Acosta for reportedly telling a large group of gang members that “the Police Department’s biggest fear is that the gangs are uniting so they can come after (police).”

During a meeting of gang members last Saturday at El Salvador Park, Acosta also said that city officials are opposed to recent peacemaking efforts by rival Orange County gangs. And he raised the question: “How can an Anglo mind read a brown mind?”

The councilman, who is challenging Mayor Daniel H. Young in the Nov. 3 election, is being accused of trying to win the contest by creating racial strife.

“It is the act of a desperate politician,” Young said Friday. “I am absolutely outraged by it and I think he has put the lives of our police officers in danger by this, and he has put the lives of our citizens in danger.”

And in a letter obtained by The Times that was sent to the homes of 489 police association members, President Don Blankenship urged members to not publicly respond to Acosta’s comments or write letters to newspapers because it would “only serve to keep this issue alive and assist Councilman Acosta in using the newspapers for his own purpose.”

The union, which contributed to Acosta’s past political campaigns and maintained a working relationship with him, recently endorsed Young in the mayoral race.

But Acosta denied his comments were part of his political game plan. And he returned the volley claiming it is Young who is inciting a negative campaign.

The councilman said Friday that his comments at the gang rally were in response to a complaint he received from a member of the United Gangs Council about Young’s unwillingness to work with the group.

“When I said (Anglos do not understand Latinos) at El Salvador Park, I meant it because Dan Young does not care one bit about the gang problem in Santa Ana,” Acosta said.

It is a sentiment Acosta has expressed before.

Last spring, following a gang-related shooting on the basketball court of Santa Ana High School, Acosta declared that the Anglo council members neither understood nor cared about the problems facing the city’s minorities. At the time, he defended his comments, claiming they served the purpose of making the gang issue a top priority for the city.

Since then, the council has adopted an anti-gang program, but gang leaders were not completely satisfied with it because it was not as comprehensive as their plan.

“(Young) is afraid to soil his shoes out there in the areas of El Salvador Park (where regular truce meetings are held) with gang members that are trying very desperately to come together,” Acosta said. “He should either lead, follow, or get out of the way.”

Acosta also said his comment about the Police Department was based on a conversation he had with a “high placed” police official, who said that if the gangs united, “it would make it more tough for (police) to deal with them.”

Acosta’s campaign manager, Ron Heike, also said that the initial public reaction to the statements was “not enough to get excited about,” and that “Dan Young, being an astute politician, is probably blowing this up.” Heike also said there was “no merit” to the concern that Acosta’s comments would cause gang members “to take after the Police Department.”

But Young charged that Acosta was “trying to create a race riot in this town,” and that his tactics were “irresponsible and reprehensible.”

Jim Walker, chairman of a coalition of neighborhood organizations, said he did not want to take sides on the issue but disagreed with Acosta. “To make remarks that suggest racism . . . this tone is something that compromises the peace efforts. It’s important that we keep it a crime issue and not a racial issue,” Walker said.