CRA Chief Proposes 13% Cut in Agency’s Staff

The new chief of redevelopment in Los Angeles proposed layoffs Thursday as part of an overhaul of his department, charging that inefficiency and a top-heavy bureaucracy have stifled productivity and stalled important projects.

Robert Ovrom, who took over the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency in February, also cited the threat of state budget cuts as he announced plans to reduce the staff by 13% and slash the number of deputy administrators from seven to two.

“The choice before the CRA/LA is quite simple -- either change or die,” Ovrom said in a scathing, 10-page critique of the agency.

He was equally blunt in a letter to CRA employees that he made public Thursday.

“We need dramatic changes to help us deal with the dramatic challenge we face,” Ovrom wrote.

The CRA is authorized by state law to collect a portion of property taxes in areas it targets for development and use the money to provide incentives, such as help in purchasing land, for firms that build housing and commercial projects.

One measure of the agency’s decline is that the amount of property tax revenue generated by its development projects has fallen from $132 million in 1993 to $76 million for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

“In truth, the CRA/LA is a mere shadow of its former self, and the situation is very likely going to get worse before it gets better,” Ovrom said in his critique.

State budget cuts have not been finalized, but Ovrom said he believes they will total 10% to 20% of the agency’s $342-million budget.

As a result, he is proposing cutting agency staffing from 208 employees this year to 180 by June 2004. At its peak staffing eight years ago, the agency had 357 employees. A recent retirement incentive offer drew only eight responses, Ovrom said, so some of the remaining cuts will have to be made through layoffs.

Ovrom’s proposal next goes to a CRA commission appointed by the mayor, and eventually will be considered by the City Council as part of its 2003-04 budget deliberations.

Union leaders said they object to layoffs and the removal of several top management positions from union representation and will fight Ovrom’s plan, which is subject to labor negotiations.

“We are shocked. He is attempting to lay off a significant number of our rank-and-file employees,” said Cheryl Parisi, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 36, which represents all employees except top administrators.

Parisi said the elimination of jobs is unnecessary because she believes Ovrom’s plan would increase the number of employees paid $100,000 or more from seven to 43.

“It’s outrageous,” she said. “Why do they feel the need to lay off so many employees when obviously there are budget dollars there to create a whole new layer of management?”

Ovrom, who was city manager in Burbank before taking the Los Angeles job, said there may be some positions that will get higher salaries but not a large number. He said he knows of seven positions that might increase in salary but he could not provide a firm number Thursday.

The reorganization is meant to streamline operations of an agency that has been hampered by efficiency problems, he said.

Several major CRA projects, including the Valley Plaza and NoHo Commons commercial developments in North Hollywood, have been plagued by delays and have yet to break ground.

As a result, $54 million budgeted for projects this year was not spent and the money has to be carried over until next year when the projects may be completed. Another bad sign: Operating costs have risen from 15% of construction costs in 1993 to 43% last year.

“At times there appears to be an organizational culture that is more focused on busily working on projects rather than actually getting them completed,” Ovrom’s report said.

The reorganization would cut the number of deputy administrators reporting to Ovrom from seven to two, which would enable him to devote more attention to the CRA’s seven commissioners, the 15 City Council members and the mayor.

Ovrom also is revamping the way the agency oversees 34 redevelopment project areas, reducing the number of project managers from 16 to seven, with those positions to be reclassified as nonunion jobs.

That drew objections from the Community Redevelopment Agency Management Assn., the bargaining unit for mid-level managers, which said it appears the change “is specifically designed to dismantle” it.

The plan also calls for creation of a new Housing Department within the agency to reflect its growing mission to expand affordable housing in the city.

Parisi said the union is consulting with its attorneys about legal actions it can take to block Ovrom’s plan, and some labor leaders hope to appeal to the City Council and mayor, saying they have not supported laying off city workers in the past.