Economic Panel Touts L.A. as New Tech Capital

Although they did not entirely represent the Los Angeles mosaic of diversity they praised, Mayor Richard Riordan, billionaire Eli Broad, former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros and several high-tech businessmen Friday provided a spirited vision of how the city is paving the way to the 21st century.

The panel spoke at an economic round table at the Central Library, moderated by CNN “Moneyline” co-host Willow Bay. It followed a media briefing at the Regal Biltmore Hotel aimed at recasting the city’s Tinseltown image to one of a capital of technology, boasting the world’s 12th-largest economy and leading the nation in manufacturing and higher education.

“The perception of Los Angeles lags behind reality by almost a decade, said Broad, a co-chairman of the nonpartisan Democratic National Convention host committee, which sponsored the events. “They remember the loss of the defense industry, the downsizing of the aerospace industry, and Hollywood. But we’re really home of the new economy.”

The convention is the perfect time to showcase the city and its business-friendly environment, he added, a key reason he worked so hard with Riordan and fellow host committee co-chairman Bill Wardlaw to bring the event here.

Broad and Riordan lost no time Friday in painting the downtown they have determined to reinvent as a haven for Angelenos from all around the basin.

Broad talked of turning Grand Avenue into a pedestrian paradise like the Champs-Elysees and cast the Disney Concert Hall, the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and the Museum of Contemporary Art as architectural icons that will soon define Los Angeles. He also predicted a threefold rise in downtown residents in the next few years.

“It was the Northridge earthquake that was the turning point for Los Angeles,” Riordan said. The city rebounded in six months, and has been improving by leaps and bounds ever since, he added. “We are the capital of the new millennium.”

Technology and Internet companies are springing up in record numbers, the panelists said. A wide range of talent emerging from the entertainment and former defense industries and research universities, coupled with the city’s proximity to beaches and mountains, are helping attract such companies, they said.

“Here you can breathe,” said Sky Dayton, a Malibu resident who founded EarthLink and ECompanies, which combined employ thousands of workers in Pasadena and Santa Monica. “It’s a much better place to build an Internet business.”

Other aspects of Los Angeles that were discussed:

* Angelenos are a “kaleidoscope of humanity,” tracing their ancestry to more than 140 nations.

* The city offers 1,100 theatrical productions annually, more than New York City.

* Its port is the largest in the country, based on tonnage of freight, and will be expanded another 500 acres.

* Roughly a million college graduates reside in the area, more per capita than anywhere else in the nation.

But there remain challenges, Riordan said, especially in improving public education so that future generations can continue the technological boom redefining the city’s economic landscape.

With a new superintendent and more responsive school board, “you’re going to see improvements in the next few years,” Riordan promised. As an example, he talked of better reading skills among younger students.

Increasing health coverage is also a must, said Alfred Mann, chairman and chief executive of MiniMed Inc., a leading biotechnology company in Sylmar.

The showcasing effort did not sit well with one among 30 or so volunteers in LA Convention 2000 T-shirts, who provided spirited applause during the press briefing. Afterward, the woman, who wouldn’t give her name, told a reporter, “I thought their presentation was all hope. I’m outraged.”

But audience members at the economic round table program said they thought the discussion was a good start, although any talk of reinventing the city must be expanded beyond Friday’s highlights.

“I’m happy to see Eli [Broad] making the case that downtown is for everyone,” said Carol Schatz, president of the Central City Assn. Still, “there’s a lot more to making downtown than Grand Avenue.”

Little Tokyo, Chinatown, the Jewelry District and even Koreatown must figure into the equation, she said. “They are a reflection of what this city is all about.”