BY KAREN BRANCH-BRIOSO

 Behind closed doors, Miami's power elite met Tuesday night to produce a
 strategy to bridge the gaping ethnic divides exposed by the Elian Gonzalez crisis.

 Black, Hispanic and white non-Hispanic business leaders from three groups
 vented passionate -- and divergent -- opinions, according to some who spoke to
 The Herald on condition of anonymity. But it led to a loose agreement to present
 a unified public face in a mission for peace.

 Among the proposals: enlist religious leaders to help on the day a court decides
 Elian's fate; buy newspaper advertisements calling for unity; establish a course on
 cultural and historical differences between ethnic groups.

 ``It's a work in progress, said car dealer Ed Williamson, co-chair of the civic
 leadership circle called the Non-Group, which invited the Hispanic group Mesa
 Redonda and the local chapter of Boulé, a national fraternity of black
 professionals.

 ``I'm not a sociologist. But there are many issues among a lot of groups in this
 county and not just the three that were most represented there. And I don't think
 the two hours when most people were there is long enough to address them all.

 One attendee said there was a sense civic leaders failed to properly prepare for
 street protests that erupted when federal agents removed the 6-year-old from his
 Miami relatives' home -- and for the angry reactions to the protests.

 NO PREPARATION

 ``Everyone knew something was going to happen and didn't prepare, a source told
 The Herald, noting the group agreed to have a plan in place in time for the
 decision by a federal appeals court that will hear the case today.

 The most immediate likely outcome will be to enlist synagogues and churches to
 open their doors for community expression at the next expected pressure point:
 the day the appeals court rules.

 ``That would happen either the day of the decision or the day we see that
 unfortunate picture of Fidel [Castro] embracing Elian, Williamson said.

 The group of about 55 people also tentatively adopted three other strategies
 offered by businessman Carlos Saladrigas aimed at making peace among
 Miami-Dade's ethnic groups:

 Run full-page ads in Diario Las Americas, The Miami Times, The Herald and El
 Nuevo Herald with a message signed by leaders from diverse ethnic groups. Its
 gist, according to Williamson: ``We won't put up with hatred or prejudice or
 xenophobia.

 Create a course for Miami-Dade public schools to promote historical and cultural
 understanding among the county's diverse ethnic groups -- and allow any
 community member to attend.

 Enlist academics from local colleges and universities to produce a socioeconomic
 study of Miami-Dade that would offer solutions to disparities.

 Williamson said the group will assign task forces to spearhead each of the
 strategies -- and to recruit a larger and more diverse circle of support.

 He said the meeting came about when two Non-Group members, including one
 who belongs to Mesa Redonda, suggested a joint conference. Williamson, who
 opened the meeting by asking attendees to keep the discussion confidential,
 declined to identify the two. University of Miami President Edward T. Foote II -- a
 Non-Group member -- sent out pre-meeting letters to the invitees, some said.

 Speeches became passionate at times, particularly when architect Ron Frazier of
 Boulé took the floor. He cited hot-button topics such as unequal immigration
 policy for Haitians and Cubans; the difficulty for non-Spanish-speaking native
 Miamians in getting jobs in an increasingly Latino community; the poor record of
 Cuban business interests in employing African-Americans; and the U.S. trade
 embargo on Cuba.

 Frazier declined comment to The Herald.

 SUGGESTIONS

 One Cuban-American speaker suggested an investigation into the federal
 government's handling of Elian's case -- and another suggested the group publicly
 agree to accept the court decision, no matter the outcome. Neither proposal was
 adopted.

 A member of the Non-Group said the group should include among its goals
 preparing the community for the return to Miami-Dade of native Janet Reno -- the
 Attorney General who made the decision to forcibly remove Elian from his
 relatives' home.

 Few opinions were were changed, said one attendee:

 ``People are still being nice to each other and intellectually dishonest with each
 other, the source said. ``People say one thing at the meeting and something else
 on the cell phone with their buddy who was also at the meeting after they leave
 and something else when they get home.

 Still, said Brodes Hartley, president of Community Health of South Dade and the
 leader of Boulé: ``I felt it was a good first step -- and that's all it was, a first step.
 There's much work to be done, but we have people willing to sit down and listen to
 each other.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald