CRA Board Postpones Appointing New Leader

The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency board delayed appointing a new administrator Thursday after one member suggested a private consultant be selected for the post to help with a planned reorganization.

The board agreed to meet again Wednesday to discuss a successor to John Molloy, who abruptly retired from the administrator’s post on Tuesday in a dispute with the board over the budget.

Board member Keith Richman suggested Thursday that instead of naming a CRA insider to the post, a private management consultant be hired to serve as administrator on an interim basis to help the board with its planned overhaul of the agency.

“The whole idea would be to help start the process on a number of issues we’ve been working on involving the organizational structure,” Richman said.

Molloy quit after the board refused to approve the budget he had proposed. The board had balked at using bond financing to cover administrative costs and complained about delays in receiving reports from Molloy on other reorganization ideas that could help avoid incurring more debt.

Molloy’s budget proposed to cut the staff from 210 to 200 through a voluntary retirement-incentive program, but he opposed eliminating the use of bond financing, warning it would force him to trim the staff to 190--a level he felt would hurt the agency’s ability to fulfill its mission.

The retirement buyout package was taken by 16 employees instead of the 10 expected--cutting the staff to 194--so it will be much easier to make the other four reductions without layoffs, Richman said.

Management experts at UCLA, who recently did an evaluation of CRA operations, are among those being considered to serve as interim administrator.

An alternative would be to hire an existing city manager to head the financially troubled agency until a permanent administrator could be found.

Chief Deputy Administrator Diana Webb is the senior manager for the agency and can make day-to-day decisions until an administrator is chosen, Richman said.

Still, the failure to name an interim administrator Thursday worried some at City Hall.

“It’s a serious problem to have a leaderless agency,” said Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. “It is simply untenable.”

Richman said the board places great importance on filling the interim administrator’s position and will act as quickly as possible.