L.A. NEEDS COORDINATED STRATEGY FOR REDEVELOPMENT.Byline: Keith S Keith may refer to: People with the given name Keith:
RECENT editorials and articles in the Daily News have taken a critical stand regarding the Community Redevelopment Agency for the city of Los Angeles
UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX Public Policy Department to evaluate the CRA's performance over its first 50 years. The CRA took the rather unusual step, for a public agency, of engaging an unbiased, well-respected, outside party to evaluate the agency and provide information as to what the agency does well and what it does not do well. The report stated that the CRA has been successful in developing the downtown Bunker Hill Bunker Hill “Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes”; American Revolutionary battle (1775). [Am. Hist.: Worth, 22] See : Battle and Central Business District areas and has been instrumental in providing low-income housing throughout the city of Los Angeles. Further, the agency has been successful in assisting with special projects such as the Madrid Theater and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences here in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . The report gave the agency mixed reviews in its evaluation of other project areas. Commercial development in these other project areas fell short and property valuations in general did not keep pace with the average growth in the city and county (although the North Hollywood redevelopment area exceeded the city and county growth rate). The UCLA report contained criticisms of the CRA and provided recommendations regarding planning, financing, record keeping, outcomes measurements, and approaches to new project areas and amendments to current redevelopment project areas. The UCLA report is only one source of information that the commission for the CRA is using in a critical review of the agency. The commission and the agency staff are currently undergoing a complete top-to-bottom review of the agency including its strategic direction, its goals, and its appropriate organizational structure  This article has no lead section.To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, one should be written. and budget. We are attempting, as a commission, to provide more oversight, more accountability and more safeguards. As the Daily News stated, ``This isn't to say that redevelopment projects are unimportant un·im·por·tant adj. Not important; petty. un  im·por tance n. , they can be a useful tool in
fighting blight blight, general term for any sudden and severe plant disease or for the agent that causes it. The term is now applied chiefly to diseases caused by bacteria (e.g., bean blights and fire blight of fruit trees), viruses (e.g., soybean bud blight), fungi (e.g. and slum slumDensely populated area of substandard housing, usually in a city, characterized by unsanitary conditions and social disorganization. Rapid industrialization in 19th-century Europe was accompanied by rapid population growth and the concentration of working-class people housing conditions housing conditions npl → condiciones fpl de habitabilidad housing conditions npl → conditions fpl de logement .'' Cities such as Glendale, Pasadena and Burbank have used redevelopment tools to literally turn their cities around. In these cities, redevelopment is a basic process of the city government with well-thought-out coordinating planning, implementation and accountability. The city of Los Angeles, in contrast, has in place a process of community and economic redevelopment that is uncoordinated un·co·or·di·nat·ed adj. 1. Lacking physical or mental coordination. 2. Lacking planning, method, or organization. un , is provided in a disjointed manner, and is lacking strategic direction and well-defined goals and planning. Economic and community redevelopment is provided by a number of departments within the city including the mayor's Economic Development Team, the Community Redevelopment Agency, the Community Development Department and the Housing Department. These agencies oftentimes of·ten·times also oft·times adv. Frequently; repeatedly. Adv. 1. oftentimes - many times at short intervals; "we often met over a cup of coffee" frequently, oft, often, ofttimes do not coordinate their activities, do not work together, and at times, duplicate their activities with redundancy of staff and other resources. This lack of a coordinated approach to economic and community redevelopment is a result of our city government structure that is built on a confused and antiquated City Charter that oftentimes simply doesn't work well. In the current situation, there is no clear line of responsibility and accountability within our city for economic and redevelopment activities It is time for a change in how our city undertakes economic and community redevelopment activities. It is time for a coordinated approach to redevelopment that is better planned, more efficiently provided, more responsive and with better accountability. Economic development, job creation and community redevelopment are too important for our future to be done haphazardly. A single Department of Economic Development should be established to focus on economic development (industrial and commercial) and community redevelopment activities. Housing responsibilities should be consolidated into a separate Department of Housing. The Department of Economic Development would consolidate all of the city's economic and redevelopment functions into a single department that is charged with development and implementation of a citywide economic policy and that provides economic development to the whole city. This organizational configuration would allow for a coordinated approach to economic and community development activities and would fix the responsibility within a single department. The department would be accountable to our elected officials and thus to us, and, as the Daily News stated, would ``be a part of a basic government process responsive to public opinion and voter's values.'' |
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