2 Top CRA Managers Fired

The new chief of Los Angeles’ Community Redevelopment Agency said Monday he has fired two top managers after concluding that he needed a “different team.”

“I was brought in to try to turn the agency around,” said acting CRA Administrator Jerry Scharlin, who was hired earlier this summer to take over the financially strapped agency. Those terminated were Chief Deputy Administrator Diana Webb, the CRA’s No. 2 manager, and Chief Financial Officer Pierre Lorenger.

“Diana Webb and Pierre Lorenger were well liked by agency staff and will be missed,” Scharlin wrote in a memo to the staff Monday. “It was a difficult decision, but necessary.”

The removal of Webb and Lorenger came less than two months after CRA Administrator John Molloy retired under pressure during a buyout program that reduced the agency staff to fewer than 200.

Five years ago, there were 350 CRA employees managing 17 project areas, but financial problems have forced a scale-back of the staff to 194 employees managing 31 project areas.

Before quitting, Molloy objected to the cuts, saying they would jeopardize the agency’s ability to fulfill its anti-blight mission.

Lorenger said Monday he shared Molloy’s concern.

A 22-year veteran of the agency, Lorenger said he was still trying to figure out the reason for his removal.

The terminations were widely seen at City Hall as a sign that Scharlin is intent on a housecleaning that will remove staffers linked to Molloy who might be reluctant to significantly scale back and change the agency, perhaps closing down some projects.

Others said they are concerned about the agency being cut back further after CRA board members promised the City Council that there would be no more layoffs after the last buyout.

“The council was explicitly told there would be no layoffs,” said Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Added Councilman Nate Holden, “It does not make him [Scharlin] look good. Before he can get his feet wet he is starting to get rid of personnel that have been there for years and have the confidence of the City Council.”

CRA board member Keith Richman said he supports Scharlin’s decision. “I think it’s absolutely necessary that he have confidence in the people working for him,” Richman said.

The board refused in June to approve a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 because it closed a potential $8-million deficit in part by including bond financing to pay for some administrative costs.

Board members said it was unwise to add to the agency’s debt to make up for property tax revenues lost in the recent recession.

The agency is still operating without a new budget, nearly two months into the fiscal year.

“We were frustrated in getting information that included other alternatives, that included prioritization of project areas,” Richman said.

Some council members have worried that prioritizing the 31 project areas might be a step toward closing some down.