Residents Have Spoken--No CRA District Here

On Nov. 15 dozens of Sherman Oaks and Studio City residents spoke at a Los Angeles City Council hearing protesting a proposed Community Redevelopment Agency district in their neighborhood. They urged city officials to reject such a plan and gave cogent reasons for their opposition.

On Nov. 22 the City Council nonetheless voted to adopt such a plan--albeit in a somewhat modified version, citing the “many concerns raised” about it.

The only reason to put a CRA district into any area is a proven need for it and proof that it will fill that need. Such proof has not been presented. Quite the contrary. Much of the opposition to this plan was based on the CRA’s track record and the lack of trust in its ability and past performance. In fact, Councilman Joel Wachs called the criticism of the CRA a “scathing indictment of the agency” that “calls into question the viability of the agency in the history of the city.”

It must be remembered that when a redevelopment zone is created, the CRA sells bonds to raise money. It repays the debt using money generated by the increase in the property taxes in the zone. The higher taxes are caused by improved buildings in the zone and by inflation. By diverting much of the property tax increase to the CRA, you are in effect siphoning off money from other essential city services such as police and fire protection--at a time when these services are already seriously underfunded.

Most important, however, is the fact that we are a democracy and government therefore is supposed to be representative. A basic tenet about representative government is that you represent the people who elected you to serve. You don’t impose your will on them. Once the people have decided an issue, then government should implement it, not undermine it. In this case the majority of the people decided they did not want the CRA in their neighborhood. Government should listen.

LEA PURWIN D’AGOSTINO

Los Angeles