No to CRA, Yes to Help

Putting a proposed northeast San Fernando Valley redevelopment project on hold for two years, as recommended by a Los Angeles City Council committee at the request of Councilman Alex Padilla, is a good idea that should be approved by the full council.

What should not be delayed, however, are efforts to find alternative ways to revitalize this area.

The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency’s proposal for a massive project in the northeast Valley has generated enormous divisiveness. Last month a citizens’ advisory panel public hearing ended with a scuffle. Padilla, who represents the area, has blamed “‘outsiders” for disrupting the planning process. Critics of the project have blamed Padilla for trying to ramrod redevelopment. As the debate became more bitter and more personal, consensus seemed hopeless. Padilla showed good sense--maybe good political sense, because the controversy will be put off until after his next election--to call a truce.

Then there’s the CRA itself--in debt, understaffed and boasting, at best, a mixed record of accomplishments. A Times story earlier this year used census, property and employment data to show that, after spending 20 years and $117 million in North Hollywood, the CRA has not been able to turn the still-shabby neighborhood around, even compared to similar communities that did not receive redevelopment funds.

The CRA has failed to make a convincing case that it can do any better in the northeast Valley. Maybe in two years, it can.

But those two years should be used to examine other ways to lift the area out of poverty. The issue, after all, has never been whether the proposed redevelopment area, which covers parts of Pacoima, Sun Valley, Lake View Terrace and Arleta, needs help. Anyone can see that it does. Families are doubled up in houses and apartments. Retail hubs are aging and in need of rehabilitation. The area lacks jobs, and a large percentage of the jobs that are there are low-paying. Per capita income is just $9,266, compared with $16,188 citywide. Market forces haven’t lifted these boats; what would?

Now is the time for CRA naysayers to come up with ideas about how to help the impoverished northeast Valley without redevelopment.

Now is the time for Padilla to consider other City Council actions, such as a Business Improvement District designation, and to serve as a link between the city and the various nonprofit groups already at work in his district, improve coordination and communication and, above all, strive for consensus.

Now is the time for backers of Valley secession and groups like the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. to step forward with innovative ideas. Secessionists and VICA have been among those opposing the CRA because no law allows the transfer of debt or revenue from a redevelopment project to a newly formed city. Surely they don’t expect the northeast Valley to wait until the question of Valley cityhood is resolved. Surely they’re above sacrificing this part of the Valley to the cause of cityhood.