CRA Accused of Plotting Secret Pay Hike

Two City Council members on Friday accused the Community Redevelopment Agency of attempting to conceal a pay raise or pension boost that apparently is in the works for the agency’s executive director.

CRA officials have refused to provide any information to the council about the matter, which is scheduled to come before the agency’s board at a meeting next Thursday, according to council members Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky.

Both are on the council committee that oversees the CRA. For weeks they have been attempting to get information about a proposed change in compensation for CRA chief John Tuite, who now is paid $136,000.

Molina and Yaroslavsky said they believe the CRA is required to provide such information. But they said CRA officials have indicated to them that they are under no such obligation.

Tuite did not respond to phone calls Friday, nor did any other CRA officials. Gayle Anderson, a spokeswoman for the agency, said she had no information about the matter.

The city attorney’s office is looking into the case.

“We have no idea what they are trying to do and that leads me to believe it’s something . . . sneaky,” Molina said. “We’re supposed to sit here with oversight responsibility and they won’t share information. This is bad for them and it reinforces what has been said of them--that they need to be taken over by the council.”

The CRA is a semi-autonomous agency that oversees and helps to fund huge development projects in several areas of the city, including downtown. The council and the agency have been at odds for years, but the battle has been intensifying since last summer, when the council considered seizing control of the agency. The idea was voted down, but the council gave itself greater authority over the CRA, including the right to have the final say on any CRA agenda items the council might choose.

Assistant City Atty. Dov Lesel said Friday he has been attempting to get information from the CRA about the matter, but has “no idea” what the CRA is trying to do for Tuite. Lesel added that he hoped to receive more information next week and may ask officials to defer action on the matter until it can be studied.

Yaroslavsky said the incident is a breach of the oversight agreement entered into by the council and the CRA last year and reflects the “arrogance and continued pomposity” of CRA Chairman Jim Wood.

“They don’t want to be scrutinized,” Yaroslavsky said. “It’s the public be damned and the council be damned.”

Wood did not return phone calls Friday.