A Voice Where It’s Needed Most

Ed Avila, the head of the embattled Community Redevelopment Agency, wants to give greater voice to people who live in communities targeted for redevelopment. That’s an idea long overdue. People who live in areas facing redevelopment should have more say about what is built near them, and where it is built. That’s common political sense. Now the CRA has a plan that could put that common sense into action.

Avila’s plan requires the approval of the Los Angeles City Council. It would stimulate economic growth by broadening the use of redevelopment tools for financing and land assessment. It also calls for raising the cap on CRA spending--a controversial move that would siphon off more property taxes from the county--to finance more projects that would create jobs and services in communities starved for both. The timetable calls for marshaling resources and accomplishing some of these changes before the April 29 anniversary of the Los Angeles riots.

As the city rebuilds, the CRA should certainly seek to stimulate a renaissance in the riot zones and other poor neighborhoods. The question for the City Council is not whether to rebuild but where to rebuild first--and how, given the city’s lack of resources.

During the boom years, the CRA dominated the direction of redevelopment. The agency concentrated very successfully on rebuilding the central business district in downtown Los Angeles. That booming growth reshaped the skyline and provided office towers for thousands of jobs, but not initially without sacrificing housing. In its heyday, the CRA ignored needy neighborhoods--choked by overcrowding, congestion and crime--that stretch north, south, east and west of City Hall.

Back then, the late City Councilman Gilbert W. Lindsay concentrated on downtown, to the detriment of the residential neighborhoods in his South Los Angeles district.

That political leadership has changed. Council members Mark Ridley-Thomas and Rita Walters more vigorously represent the communities south of downtown. And Council members Richard Alatorre and Mike Hernandez insist on more government attention for the communities to the north and east. The pending retirement of veteran Councilman Ernani Bernardi, who recently inherited new areas in his San Fernando Valley district, should allow the election of a more involved leader who would initiate redevelopment projects in Pacoima and other parts of the Valley.

The next mayor will provide the most pivotal new voice in city government. He or she, along with the City Council, will set the CRA’s agenda. But Avila’s proposal provides a good starting point for that debate.