Community Presses Council to Change Development Board

In a move to ease community concerns, the Los Angeles City Council has agreed to delay a vote on who will distribute up to $450 million in federal loans to businesses in low- and moderate-income areas.

During the first of two public hearings on the Community Development Bank, which is charged with distributing the federal money, many expressed reservations about the 15-member board consisting of six people appointed by the mayor, one by the County Board of Supervisors and eight from the corporate community.

Two of the people from the corporate sector were required to have experience as a senior officer of a financial institution, while three others were required to be senior executives of large businesses or partners in a nationally recognized law or accounting firm. This condition prompted criticism from residents that such executives would not be sympathetic to the realities of grass-roots small business.