Assembly Speaker Karen Bass urged South Los Angeles residents to pressure the governor and state lawmakers to save jobs and vital services at a Saturday rally where a local community leader warned the state’s budget crisis could create an economic tsunami “bigger than Hurricane Katrina.”

As the June 30 budget deadline fast approaches and California attempts to plug a $24 billion deficit, hundreds attended the Community Coalition’s “A Place to Start Resource Fair” at the Foshay Learning Center located at the corner of Western and Exposition boulevards.

“This fair today is setting the stage for what we are going to do to weather the storm that’s coming,” said Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the coalition’s executive director. “Our community is about to get hit by a tornado bigger than Hurricane Katrina. The services we are about to lose, the jobs that are about to flee the community and the safety net that is about to be cut in front of our eyes.”

The event brought together 75 health, employment, housing and other local resources and organizations for youth and families and adults transitioning out of prison.

With the latter in mind, the fair also launched the second addition of “A Place to Start Resource Guide,” a compilation of local resources for returnees in the South L.A. community, which has a high number of parolees. A list of the organizations and services can be found at the coalition’s Web site, CocoSouthLA.org.

“The governor can’t use the economic crisis to restructure the state so we have no safety net; we would be the only state in the country without one,” said Bass, who spoke at the rally after headlining a town hall meeting on the budget crisis at the nearby California Science Museum. “We can’t take Cal Grants from students who did everything we asked them to do, graduate from high school, get their notice of financial aid and then because of the budget say we are going to take it back.”

However, Bass also told the crowd that the crisis has placed a new spotlight on inequality in the criminal justice system, as the governor proposes the release of 40,000 non-violent offenders. According to the coalition, 30 percent of all parolees crowd into low-income areas like South L.A, and 70 percent of all California parolees, the majority of which are African-American and Latino, return to prison — many for minor parole violations and non-violent drug offenses.

Bass and community-based interest groups are advocating the passage of Assembly Bill 777, which would ensure that all offenders released from California state prisons receive a California ID prior to their release. “Why do we send people back to prison for technical violations?” said Bass. “Why don’t we have an independent commission to look at some of the ridiculous sentencing laws passed in recent years? That one law —the ‘Three Strikes’ law — has resulted in the building of 15 prisons.”

But the fair brought hope in stories like John Harriel, Jr., a 39-year-old former gang member who spent years in prison. He is now a general electrical foreman and volunteers to help at-risk youth.

“I got into a lot of trouble as a young teen and adult, and it was a re-entry program that turned my life around,” said Harriel. “You wouldn’t be looking at a successful brother here, 13 years as an electrician. These programs are vital and the lifeline of the community.”

Rev. Jeff Carr, director of the Gang Reduction and Youth Development Programs for the City of L.A., announced the second year of a program called “Summer of Success,” which keeps parks and recreation facilities open during the summer nights when there is normally a spike in gang violence. Carr revealed that the number of parks will be doubled to 16 this year, including nearby Denker Park, providing activities in sports, arts, music and food.

He added that 20 local youth would be hired, earning $3,500 for the summer to help run the programs and take part in outreach.

“Last summer was one of the safest in terms of gang-related violence for 40 years,” said Carr. “We know that just locking young people up doesn’t work to reduce the problem. Our comprehensive strategy is to find a way to provide opportunities that put them on a different pathway for life.”