CRA Expected to Decide the Fate of Interim Administrator Today

Most board members of the Community Redevelopment Agency said Tuesday that they approve of the way Jerry Scharlin has run the agency--one day before they are set to decide whether to promote him to permanently head the city’s blight-fighting operation.

But Scharlin, who ran a controversial investigation of his agency, may not have such an easy time before the Los Angeles City Council, which has the power to endorse or undo what the CRA board decides today. Scharlin has been interim administrator since July 1999.

Scharlin’s strong support comes despite a recent audit that found the agency lacked internal controls on finances, resulting in payments for properties at higher prices than agency appraisals.

Scharlin responded to the city controller’s audit by immediately putting into place new management controls, including a requirement that a panel of managers review any property purchase.

“I think he has done a good job,” board member Doug Ring said in explaining why he supports Scharlin’s appointment. “He got tossed into something that is a mess and while he has not completed turning the agency around, it is going in the right direction.”

Board members Coby A. King and Greta T. Hutton also praised Scharlin’s tenure.

“I’m generally inclined to support it,” King said of a permanent appointment. “He inherited an agency with a lot of problems, but from what I have seen he has applied good management practices to make things better.”

Board member Javier Lopez said he is “comfortable” with appointing Scharlin but wants to hear the board’s discussion before making a final decision.

If the seven-member board does not reappoint Scharlin, its options could include ordering a new competition for the post, said Thomas Knox, an agency spokesman.

Knox said 41 people applied for the job in a national search overseen by a private executive search firm.

Scharlin’s appointment was recommended by a panel that included board Chairwoman Peggy Moore, City Councilman Nick Pacheco and Deputy Mayor Jennifer Roth.

Pacheco said he recommended Scharlin keep his job even though there has been criticism of Scharlin’s decision to hire a private investigator, without board approval, to look into allegations of financial improprieties in the agency.

The private investigative report and the city controller’s audit of land transactions were recently turned over to the district attorney’s office for a review to determine whether a criminal investigation of agency employees is warranted.

The City Council was concerned enough that the private investigator may have violated CRA employees’ due process and privacy rights that it summoned Scharlin to explain his decision.

“It is a controversial decision,” Pacheco said. “But I think he did the right thing. Basically, Jerry has tried his best to do what is in the best interests of the CRA.”

But other council members predicted close council scrutiny of Scharlin.

“There is unresolved business with respect to the private investigator,” Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said. “Someone is doing the public a disservice by concealing important information that could potentially affect this decision.”

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Ridley-Thomas and a manager for the CRA’s employees union also said there are questions on whether the CRA board followed the council’s directions when it approved the one-year contract that expires today.

The council conditioned the approval on the CRA initiating a competitive selection process.

Union representative David Cochran said Scharlin’s appointment is being recommended without any public demonstration that there was a fair competition. The secrecy that surrounded the appointment process is a concern, he said.

Employees also still have lingering concerns over the hiring of the private investigator to look into allegations against unnamed workers, Cochran said.

Another concern at City Hall is the indication the CRA board will consider entering into an employment agreement with Scharlin.

Noting that Mayor Richard Riordan leaves office in July, Ridley-Thomas said he will want to make sure any agreement with Scharlin does not bind a future mayor to keeping him as administrator.

Because Scharlin’s contract expires today, agency officials said there may be the need to appoint someone else to serve as an interim administrator, pending a final council vote on Scharlin.