LOS ANGELES : Griego Plans to Open RLA Offices in Poor Areas

After having trimmed the staff of RLA in half because of budget concerns, the riot recovery agency’s new president, Linda Griego, told board members Tuesday that she plans to open three satellite offices in an effort to reach out to small businesses in impoverished neighborhoods across Los Angeles.

Speaking at a quarterly meeting of the RLA board, Griego said the offices would be created in South-Central Los Angeles, Southeast Los Angeles and the Van Nuys/Pacoima area.

RLA staffers based in those offices would seek to set up networks of small businesses that could work together on marketing and training programs in order to reduce costs and increase jobs. The offices would also provide general business assistance and develop apprenticeship programs for some of the estimated 115,000 small businesses in neighborhoods that were scarred by the riots that began two years ago Friday.

Since its formation as the city’s main response to the rioting, the private agency has drawn fire from community groups that term it ineffective. RLA has targeted it efforts in Los Angeles County neighborhoods in which at least 20% of the population lives beneath the federally defined poverty level.