LOS ANGELES : Council Votes to Move Agency Out of Downtown

The Los Angeles City Council, ignoring arguments that it should not abandon a downtown area in need of revitalization, agreed Tuesday to allow the city’s Department of Aging to relocate its offices from Spring Street to the MacArthur Park area.

The move, approved 11 to 2, was endorsed by city staff and spearheaded by Councilman Mike Hernandez on grounds that the MacArthur Park location--2404 Wilshire Blvd.--will be safer and more convenient for senior citizens. Hernandez, whose district includes MacArthur Park, and other officials also said the new 15,000-square-foot location will be less expensive to rent.

But a staff report shows that a seven-year lease will cost the city almost $1.9 million, only $47,000 less than the current lease. And council members Zev Yaroslavsky and Rita Walters--the lone opponents of the move--argued that it would ultimately cost the city both more money and precious community support for the revitalization of downtown.

Said Walters: “If we cannot convince our city departments to locate on Spring Street, I don’t know how we can convince anyone else to locate on Spring Street.”