Advisory group blasts Hollywood projects.

City councilwoman comes under criticism for actions

The new Hollywood Community Advisory Committee - elected last year by citizens of the Hollywood redevelopment project area to advise Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg - last week voted to oppose continued efforts to pursue the controversial, mixed-use Hollywest development project, and insisted upon getting notice from City Hall about upcoming votes on issues in its area.

An agreement regarding Hollywest is scheduled to come before a Los Angeles City Council committee next week. The L.A. Community Redevelopment Agency loaned $5 million to developer Ira Smedra five years ago in connection with Hollywest - a planned retail/senior housing project to be anchored by a grocery store.

Smedra demolished the Hotel Rector on the site at Western Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, but nothing has been built there. He is currently leasing the property to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for a Metro Rail construction yard.

"This project has been the sinkhole of the Hollywood project area. We want no more money flushed down this particular toilet," said CAC member Michael Weinstein. He made the motion to oppose further involvement by the city and CRA in the project and to attempt to recover the money loaned to Smedra.

Weinstein, a Hollywood businessman, also made the motion to ask Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg's office to notify the CAC 15 days in advance of any scheduled City Council or CRA board action on Hollywood items. Goldberg aide Mirta Ocana said the request was unreasonable, and Weinstein said the council office has shown excessive resistance to "a simple request for notification."

No notification

The CRA board recently approved an amended five-year plan for the Hollywood project area, and the City Council approved an extension of a $4 million loan agreement with the Hollywood Entertainment Museum - both without notifying the CAC.

The Hollywood CAC was elected last year to replace a committee that had been appointed by former City Councilman Mike Woo.

Under redevelopment law, new project areas must have elected advisory committees, which are made up of area residents, business people and people representing agencies in the community. After a project area has been in existence for a number of years, the City Council member who represents that area can choose to continue with the elected committee or can appoint his/her own committee.

Woo, when he was a councilman, chose to disband his existing elected committee (although that group continues to meet to this day) and appoint one instead. Goldberg chose to hold a new election in the community.

The committee appointed by Woo also opposed the Hollywest project, but Woo continued to pursue it.

Aides to Goldberg have stated that they "inherited" the Hollywest project from Woo and now are forced to proceed or face litigation.

"I don't know that we can stop it," said Ocana. "When you've been studying these issues for a long time, you will see - with both Hollywest and the Hollywood Entertainment Museum - that you'll go round and round and wind up in the same place, because we've tried everything."

The CRA has loaned $500,000 to the Hollywood Entertainment Museum organizers for predevelopment costs connected with the acquisition and redesign of the Pacific Theatres building on Hollywood Boulevard, and the CRA has committed to loaning $3.5 million more. But now both museum president Phyllis Caskey and Pacific Theatres executives say they have reached an impasse and halted negotiations on the sale of the building.

Discussion sought

The Hollywood CAC discussed opposing extension of the museum's loan agreement for another six months (something already approved by the City Council in April but not yet addressed by the CRA board). But instead the CAC decided to invite Caskey and Goldberg to a meeting June 6 to address the issue.

The CAC meeting May 22 - the first one at which the new committee took up substantive issues - was also the first one Goldberg didn't attend, even though the meeting date was changed to accommodate her schedule, said CAC Vice Chairman Robert Nudelman.

Ocana answered questions for Goldberg's office until developer Jerry Schneiderman asked about Goldberg's handling of the museum loan extension and about a rumor circulating in Hollywood that Goldberg's office has threatened to use the city's power of eminent domain to take the Pacific Theatre building, unless the owners sell for a price far below what they are asking.

Confronted with these questions, Ocana said that Goldberg aide Veronica Gutierrez is in charge of those issues and is the only one who can comment on them. Gutierrez was not at the meeting and has failed to return numerous phone calls from the Business Journal over the past several weeks seeking comment on the museum project.

Nudelman, a longtime Hollywood community activist and resident, said abandoning the museum project would free up $3.5 million that could be spent repairing existing historic structures.

"There comes a time and point where you shouldn't keep giving them extensions," agreed restaurant owner Doreet Hakman. "It may end up as another Hollywest."