Proposed Reappointment of CRA Chief Criticized

Mayor Richard Riordan’s proposed reappointment of the Community Redevelopment Agency’s acting director has stirred opposition among labor activists and City Council members, who complain that Jerry Scharlin is being allowed to continue leading the troubled agency without a search to see whether he is the best person for the job.

The appointment of Scharlin, who was brought to the CRA on a six-month contract last year to attempt to turn it around, will come before the full council today. As it does, a number of council members are grousing about Riordan’s decision to extend Scharlin’s term without launching a national search.

The appointment issue also masks deeper political disputes. Some council members remain angry at last year’s ouster of John Molloy, an agency head some of them liked, but whose removal was favored by Riordan. Some also would like greater control over the CRA and believe that Scharlin stands in the way of that.

On the surface, however, the debate is mostly about process.

“The council was led to believe that this was an interim appointment,” Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said of Scharlin’s selection. “There is no reason to depart from that course. . . . We should have a fair, open and competitive process for the top job at the biggest redevelopment agency in the country. Anything else is inappropriate and unfair.”

Riordan’s top aides disagree. They say that Scharlin is working wonders at the long-troubled CRA. Deputy Mayor Jennifer Roth, who oversees budget and finance issues for Riordan, said Scharlin took over the CRA with the understanding that it would take him about two years to complete its turnaround. Already, she said, he is making significant progress, and the extension would give him time to finish what he has started.

“It’s very important that we keep the continuity going,” said Riordan Chief of Staff Kelly Martin.

In the debate over whether to give Scharlin additional time, some critics say that he overstepped his authority when he fired two CRA staff members--for which he and the city are being sued.

According to city documents, those two employees claim discrimination and wrongful termination and are asking to be reinstated, along with pay for emotional distress, legal fees and other expenses. One issue for the city is whether Scharlin is entitled to legal protection for his actions in firing those employees, since he took that action while he was a so-called “contract employee,” not the full head of the agency.

Scharlin and others have argued that he is entitled to indemnification because he was serving as the interim administrator of the CRA when he took those actions, and they were taken in the course of his official duties. Scharlin’s critics, however, say that he violated city rules during a time when he held only interim responsibilities, potentially making him personally liable for any lawsuit that grows out of them.

Without commenting on the substance of that lawsuit, Martin said it had nothing to do with the administration’s support for extending Scharlin’s tenure. That, she said, is solely the result of Riordan’s confidence in Scharlin’s work and belief that the agency will benefit by his continued leadership.

In a memo to Riordan and council members, Scharlin made it clear that he believes the agency is making strides but still has a way to go.

“As you are all aware, the misalignment of CRA’s human and financial resources with its stakeholders’ expectations was long in coming, and resulted in part from factors beyond the agency’s control,” he wrote. “Unwinding this situation will also take a considerable period of time.”