Speed County Projects, Leaders Urge

Stepping up pressure for action to spur the Los Angeles-area economy, political leaders called Thursday for a quick start for already budgeted public works projects that could provide billions in local spending.

Their plea came at an economic conference, organized by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., that was intended to develop ways to ease the region’s recent economic woes. The session foreshadowed some of the issues expected to be raised today at a separate state economic conference called by Gov. Gray Davis.

Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), appearing at the county conference in downtown Los Angeles, said he had been told by Davis that $6 billion in bond financing already approved by California voters is available for transportation and other public works projects around the state. In addition, a Los Angeles city economic task force reported Tuesday that the city has an additional $1.2 billion available for the construction of bridges, buildings and other municipal facilities.

Hertzberg, County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Antonovich and other officials urged state and local agencies to cut through red tape to speed the spending of the funds.

Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., estimated that every $1 billion in new construction would create roughly 20,000 in construction jobs.

Still, it wasn’t clear how much of the money can quickly be put into construction. One participant at the conference, Dennis Courtemarche, city manager of Pico Rivera, reported that “one of the major barriers is the lack of personnel to design projects to move them to the next level.”

Officials also called for action to promote local tourism, to speed the granting of permits for private sector projects and to help place laid-off workers in new jobs or training programs.

The county development corporation was asked to issue progress reports on its efforts to spur the economy every 30 days over the next several months.

At today’s state economic conference in Burbank, the California Manufacturers and Technology Assn. will propose a sales tax exemption totaling about $450 million for businesses that buy manufacturing and telecommunications equipment. It also will call for a cut in electricity rates and a moratorium on regulatory fee increases.

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Times staff writer Dan Morain in Sacramento contributed to this report.