Assembly Committee OKs Agency to Oversee L.A. Rebuilding

Acting on the anniversary of last year’s rioting in Los Angeles, an Assembly committee narrowly approved a bill Wednesday to set up a redevelopment agency to coordinate efforts to rebuild hard-hit South-Central and Koreatown areas.

A 6-4 vote, just enough for approval, sent the measure sponsored by Assemblyman Curtis Tucker Jr. (D-Inglewood) from the Housing Committee to the Ways and Means Committee for further consideration.

The legislation also would establish a nine-member governing body for the proposed new agency. The board would consist of five public members to be elected from the agency’s jurisdictional area, two City Council members and one county supervisor who represent the same region, and one member from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Mayor Tom Bradley had handed the responsibility for coordinating the revitalization of Los Angeles’ riot-torn areas to Rebuild L.A., since renamed RLA, a private organization headed by Peter V. Ueberroth.

But critics have charged that RLA has moved too slowly in attracting private investment and creating jobs in the year after the civil unrest, which resulted in more than 50 deaths and nearly $1 billion in property damage.

Tucker’s measure was opposed by representatives of Bradley, the Los Angeles City Council, the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, the California Redevelopment Assn. (CRA) and Paul Gann’s Citizens Commission.

In opening remarks, the Assemblyman said the redevelopment agency “is a failed institution, lacking the necessary community support to support even their best intentions. . . . Bold steps must be taken. Business as usual is no longer acceptable.”

But Councilwoman Rita Walters said another redevelopment agency is not the answer. “We understand what Mr. Tucker is trying to do,” Walters said, “but it will not get us where we want to go.”

Diana Webb, CRA chief deputy administrator, said the bill would “tie the city’s hands” and impose “another layer of bureaucracy” that would only delay rebuilding efforts.

In answer to committee questions, Webb said the CRA has a $3.5-million revitalization plan that should be put into motion within 15 months.

But Tucker argued: “For far too long, the CRA has neglected South-Central Los Angeles. And there is a definite need to give residents a majority on the new board so they can control their own destiny.”

Last year, the Legislature approved, and Gov. Pete Wilson signed into law, a bill by Assemblywoman Marguerite Archie-Hudson (D-Los Angeles) designed to speed up the rebuilding.

That law grants tax breaks to businesses that rebuild their facilities and create jobs for residents who live within riot-torn neighborhoods.