Faced with the possible termination of two successful and widely regarded anti-gang programs, Monterey County officials are looking for money in their own departments to keep the programs alive.
The Monterey County Probation Department, Sheriff's Office and District Attorney's Office, along with various partner agencies, will be spending the next month coming up with money for the Joint Gang Task Force and Silver Star Youth Program.
"We are beginning the process, and it certainly will have an impact. It's a very discouraging thing, but it's worth fighting for," said District Attorney Dean Flippo.
The county faces a $24.9 million budget deficit this fiscal year, which ends June 30, and supervisors agreed Tuesday to provide those programs with money but only until the end of January. At that point, officials must come up with their share of the funding to cover the next five months.
The Silver Star Youth Program, which has a $282,800 shortfall, will receive a $47,000 contribution to keep it afloat. The Gang Task Force faces a budget shortfall of nearly $500,000, but supervisors agreed to provide $82,000.
Probation Chief Manuel Real said finding money for Silver Star may come from the nearly 10 partners that help run the program for troubled youth and their families.
"It took a create deal of time and effort to put this program in place," Real said.
None of the department heads said they know where the money would immediately come from, but all said they are committed to coming up with some plan.
Sheriff Mike Kanalakis, whose office faces a $3 million shortfall and will eliminate or cut a variety of programs next month, including reduced patrols, said there's little room left to trim.
"We need to make that up first, and we're just in dire circumstances right now," Kanalakis said.
Supporters of the task force and Silver Star say the two are integral in combating gang violence in the long term through a combination of suppression by the task force itself, and prevention and support programs for youth through Silver Star.
Flippo told supervisors Tuesday that too much work has gone into creating these programs to simply stop paying for them.
Salinas Deputy Police Chief Manny Perrin said the removal of either program will cripple local law enforcement's ability to crack down on gangs because of how police departments, along with the Sheriff's Office, work together countywide on the problem.