Battling the branding

When a group of Costa Mesa business owners founded the Westside Business Culture earlier this year, they announced a desire to remove the “stigmas” from their city’s sometimes blighted area.

This weekend, the committee plans to undertake its first major project — and it’s backing a group that knows more than a little about stigmas.

The Westside Business Culture, led by home developer Steve Jones, plans to support the educational nonprofit Save Our Youth at a fundraiser Saturday at the Detroit Bar.

Save Our Youth launched 14 years ago to keep Westside children out of gangs, and the event — expected to feature music, food and a silent auction — seeks to raise money for after-school programs and other expenses.

Murphy, who took the helm of Save Our Youth four years ago, has fought accusations that his center is a haven for gang members and other troublemakers.

When he heard another group of locals was seeking to put a positive face on the Westside, he jumped at the chance to work with them.

“I was definitely interested in approaching them,” Murphy said. “Our goals kind of convene — theirs from a business side and ours from a community side. We all want to get the stigmas out of the Westside and keep opponents of our area and our culture from using those stigmas to justify changing everything.”

The Westside Business Culture leaders, who heard Murphy’s proposal at their regular meeting Tuesday evening, have taken it upon themselves in the next few days to rouse support for his cause. The committee is still in its formative stage and has few resources at its disposal, but the members are seeking to do what they can — sending out e-mail lists to spread the word about the fundraiser and possibly donating silent auction items.

If all goes well, then, when the rock band Common Sense sounds its first chord at the Detroit Bar Saturday, the Westside Business Culture can say it has one event under its belt. Chairman Pete Zehnder, who co-owns the development firm 1.7 Ocean with Jones, said it would be a good note to start on.

“I personally think he’s doing a good job there,” he said about Murphy. “We’d like to support him and try to get other people to support what he’s doing.”

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.