Assembly Rejects Proposed L.A. Redevelopment Agency : Government: Sponsor Curtis Tucker will keep pushing plan to replace organization that he criticizes as ‘running roughshod over the public.’

The Assembly on Wednesday rejected legislation creating a new Los Angeles community redevelopment agency that would have coordinated rebuilding efforts in parts of South-Central and Koreatown devastated by last year’s riots.

The measure, sponsored by Assemblyman Curtis Tucker (D-Inglewood), received 42 votes but required 54, or a two-thirds majority, for passage. Tucker said he would try again for approval at a later date.

There was no opposition lodged against the bill on the Assembly floor, but Mayor Tom Bradley has lobbied against the plan because it would replace the existing redevelopment agency, which Bradley supports.

The mayor also gave the major responsibility for coordinating the revitalization of the riot-devastated areas to Rebuild L.A., a private organization that some critics charge has been inadequate. Another opponent of Tucker’s bill is the city of Los Angeles, which claims that, as a start-up organization, the new agency would have delayed redevelopment work for at least 18 months.

Tucker called the existing redevelopment agency “a failed institution lacking the necessary community support for even their best intentions.”

The existing Community Redevelopment Agency has made “a practice of running roughshod over the public and treating the people as if they were the enemy,” Tucker said.

“It is in everyone’s best interests to restore this area’s economy and self-sufficiency,” he said of the riot-torn areas.

The new redevelopment agency would have been governed by a seven-member body, including four members elected from the community, two City Council members and a county supervisor, all of whom represent the affected regions.

After the vote, Tucker said, “I don’t think people were paying attention. I thought I had the votes. I am surprised.”

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 process.

That law grants tax breaks to businesses which rebuild their facilities and create jobs for residents who live within those neighborhoods.