Rebuilding Bill Scrapped Amid Distrust of CRA : Recovery: Assemblyman says South L.A. fears the agency. He calls for creation of another one to handle redevelopment.

Faced with Los Angeles residents’ suspicion of the Community Redevelopment Agency, Assemblyman Curtis Tucker Jr. (D-Inglewood) on Friday dropped a proposal designed to clear away obstacles to reconstruction of the city’s riot-torn neighborhoods.

The bill would have granted CRA officials the authority to waive some of the usual procedures in redevelopment projects, including some citizen oversight powers. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and Peter V. Ueberroth, co-chairman of the private Rebuild L.A. organization, supported the measure.

“The community fears the CRA,” Tucker said in an interview, referring to complaints that the agency has shoved people out of their homes to make way for redevelopment. “We have to find a new agency (to coordinate the redevelopment process) or maybe even create a new one.”

State officials estimate that 1,053 structures, valued at $427 million, were destroyed or damaged in the city of Los Angeles during the spring riots. An estimated 5,200 structures, valued at $735 million, were destroyed or damaged countywide.

In a statement to an Assembly-Senate conference committee trying to work out a compromise on the proposal, Tucker said:

“This is a very difficult bill for a number of reasons. On one hand, we have all seen the devastation in Los Angeles and we are all trying to figure out ways to bring about re-healing and rebuilding.

“Unfortunately, we also are laboring under the sins of the past of the CRA. We were unable to persuade the community that the CRA could and would be a positive tool for rebuilding the community. It is with much regret that I have to ask for a ‘no’ vote on this bill.”

Assemblyman Dan Hauser (D-Arcata), the conference committee chairman, declared the bill dead for this session.

CRA Administrator Edward Avila called the action a tragedy for the revitalization of riot-torn areas. “It is really unfortunate that now we will not be able to use one of the very few tools available to rebuild,” Avila said.

Tucker said he plans to hold public hearings in the Los Angeles area after the Legislature adjourns “to try to find something that everyone can support.”

He denied a report that he dropped his bill as part of a deal cut in favor of a pending measure by Assemblywoman Marguerite Archie-Hudson (D-Los Angeles).

The Archie-Hudson bill, without involving the CRA, would create a Los Angeles revitalization zone, giving sliding-scale tax incentives to businesses that rebuild their facilities and provide jobs for residents of riot-torn areas.

The measure is awaiting consideration by the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee. If approved by the upper house, the bill still would have to go back to the Assembly for concurrence in amendments.

“No deal was made,” Archie-Hudson said. “My bill is designed to create jobs.”

No testimony was given at Friday’s brief conference committee meeting, but longtime Los Angeles residents and others made their opposition clear at a session earlier this week.

“We want the CRA to stay out of our area,” said Lois Medlock of South-Central Los Angeles. “They are land-grabbers, and the money goes into the pockets of the developers. We do not intend to be pushed out of our homes.”

Gloria Gary asked Tucker: “Is this bill worth your reputation? Is this bill worth your father’s reputation?” Tucker was elected to the Assembly in 1989 to succeed his father, the late Assemblyman Curtis Tucker.

Sarah Foster, a spokeswoman for Californians for Self-Governance, told the conference committee: “We need more braking mechanisms, not fast-track procedures.”

Sherry Curtis of the Paul Gann Citizens Committee added: “Redevelopment does not work and it is causing us to go into bankruptcy. We need to either eliminate it or restrict it.”