Yet Another Loyalist to the Rescue

When Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley has problems--and they’ve been abundant the last couple of years--he usually looks to loyal political supporters to help him try and set things right. He did it again this week when he named Deputy Mayor Ed Avila the interim head of the controversial Community Redevelopment Agency.

Avila comes to the job with a good track record as a public servant, and is well-regarded even by CRA critics like Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky and outgoing Councilwoman Gloria Molina. So he may be just the right person to replace outgoing CRA head John Tuite, whose $1.7-million severance package has come to symbolize what many think is wrong with CRA--it plays fast and loose with lots of money and power, and worse, no one is really accountable for it.

Case in point: Despite the public outcry over Tuite’s buyout, only one CRA board member has been ousted. The rest, particularly CRA board Chairman Jim Wood, seem determined to ride out the storm, apparently in the hope that things will go back to normal once public attention is focused elsewhere.

But that is precisely what Avila must not allow to happen. For all the good CRA did in helping rebuild downtown Los Angeles, it now needs to change. It must focus less on affluent high-rise buildings and do more to provide affordable housing throughout the city. And, at the very least, it must be more open and up-front about how it operates.

Avila has his work cut out for him--and we suspect that he and the mayor know it.