A ‘New’ Downtown Is Facing a Hurdle

As someone who has been involved with downtown Los Angeles for 23 years, first as founding chairman of the Museum of Contemporary Art and more recently in working with former Mayor Richard Riordan in raising funds to build the Walt Disney Concert Hall, I have found that getting things done downtown can be difficult in the best of circumstances.

Currently, we deal with one City Council member (representing the 9th District), the Community Redevelopment Agency, L.A. County, the state of California and, on occasion, other governmental agencies.

If the 9th District is balkanized, with three council members having their own agendas and separate visions, the resulting delays and confusion could scuttle many projects that are central to creating a civic and cultural heart for the entire metropolitan area. Yet, this is what several City Council members are proposing.

Among the innovative plans being developed is one to turn Grand Avenue between the new cathedral and the Central Library into a truly “grand avenue,” rivaling the main boulevards of the world’s greatest cities. It would be a pedestrian-friendly street with reduced vehicular traffic and featuring cinemas, restaurants, shops and much-needed housing. But making this a reality will be nearly impossible if one part of the street is in one district and another part in a different district.

Likewise, it would be difficult for the 16 acres running from the Department of Water and Power to our newly rededicated City Hall to be the year-round public commons where people could enjoy special activities such as free concerts and celebrations of Cinco de Mayo, New Year’s Eve and other holidays.

When the Lakers won the NBA championship last year, 500,000 people from all of our communities came downtown for the victory parade. That is exactly the sort of civic activity that we should enjoy. The proposal that splits up Grand Avenue would separate this area from the rest of downtown.

There also are exciting plans to dramatically expand the convention, sports and entertainment district around Staples Center. Splitting up this area into three council districts, as some propose, would endanger this vision.

Nearly 300,000 people work downtown every day. I envision more people living downtown. I envision people staying downtown after work. I envision families on weekends visiting museums, shopping, having brunch, lunch or dinner and then seeing a Lakers, Kings or Clippers game.

The redistricting commission, which recommends keeping almost all of downtown under the 9th District, held numerous hearings, getting input from thousands of citizens. For the City Council to now consider not accepting the commission’s well-thought-out recommendation would be another example of political greed taking precedence over the public good.

The council member for the 9th District was elected by an overwhelming majority of the residents of downtown and the other parts of her district. To ignore both the recommendation of the redistricting commission and the interests of the voters would send a negative message to all our citizens.

This is the time to streamline the planning processes, not make them more cumbersome. In an era when we must compete with local and regional neighbors to retain businesses, attract investment and develop world-class amenities, the city shouldn’t be making things more complicated. We need continuity and focus of purpose as we nurture the center of our region.

I urge the City Council to not balkanize downtown.