POLITICS. Summit Leads to Modest Progress
By HOWARD FINE
Staff Reporter
One month after government and economic development leaders throughout L.A. County gathered to find ways to stimulate the local economy, modest progress has been made, according to a report from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., which co-sponsored the summit.
The most significant economic stimulus steps taken in the last 30 days involve identifying public works projects that can be fast-tracked. The report said Caltrans has identified $200 million worth of highway projects that can be accelerated.
One local entity has its eye on some of the Caltrans dollars. According to the report, the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance plans to ask Caltrans to expedite a $28 million project to widen Highway 138 just southeast of Palmdale.
Other public works projects are in line for fast-tracking, the report said. For example, the San Gabriel Valley Economic Alliance has identified $38 million in capital improvement projects planned for area school districts that can be accelerated.
Meanwhile, the report cited a number of steps have been taken to help local workers who have lost their jobs as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The state has kicked in $10 million in training funds for the displaced workers. Some of those funds may also go to businesses hurt financially by the fallout from the attacks.
Also, L.A. Mayor James Hahn today is expected to announce that local banks have agreed to allow their employees to volunteer their time to help displaced workers put their financial affairs in order.
POLITICS:
It’s no secret that both state political parties have deep internal ideological divisions. On the Republican side, the split has manifest itself in the party structure, where moderates have waged a two-year battle to wrest control of the party from conservatives. On the Democrat side, the split is playing itself out in the state Legislature.
State Sen. Sheila Kuehl, an unabashed liberal Democrat representing the Westside, has launched an effort to retake the state Assembly from the moderate, business-friendly Democrats led by outgoing Speaker Robert Hertzberg (Van Nuys) and Central Valley Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza. Currently, this moderate caucus has a margin that ranges from four to nine votes. They have frequently acted as a bloc to stop bills they regard as burdensome to business.
Earlier this month, Kuehl sent out a fund-raising notice to two dozen liberal colleagues in both houses. In the letter, Kuehl said that with Democrats firmly in control of the Legislature for the next decade (thanks to redistricting), now is the time to make sure the “right Democrats” get elected.
“For the last two years, I have watched as this moderate caucus or ‘mod squad’ as some like to call them have bottled up key consumer legislation,” Kuehl said. “(State Sen. Martha) Escutia’s bill banning corporations from making secret settlements, which easily passed the Senate, didn’t even make it out of committee over there in the Assembly. You had this organized group working to block legislation by members of their own party. They would meet with the California Chamber to discuss their ‘job-killer’ bills, but they wouldn’t even meet with their fellow Democrats. For me, that was the last straw.”
Kuehl’s goal is to peel off three or four open seats now held by moderates by funding more liberal Democrats for those seats. Two of those seats are held by termed-out Hertzberg and Cardoza.
If Kuehl and her “progressive coalition” are successful, they could change the state Legislature almost as much as Sen. Jim Jeffords did in the U.S. Senate last spring. That’s because liberal Democrats, led by the fiery San Francisco Democrat John Burton, already control the Senate. If liberals gain control of the Assembly, then even more consumer and labor-friendly legislation could end up on the governor’s desk in 2003.
And, with just a handful of extra votes, the Legislature would have the power to override gubernatorial vetoes of bills for multibillion-dollar workers’ comp benefit increases, among other things.
Facilities Czar
Frustrated by word of delays in completing local park rehabilitation projects, L.A. Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski has proposed creating a “facilities czar” to minimize delays on bond-funded city projects.
This bureaucrat would have the power to corral city construction projects now done by different departments and move them through the bureaucracy in a coordinated fashion.
“So many projects get caught up in delays as they move between departments for the necessary approvals. There’s no one person with the authority to move them along,” said Lisa Gritzner, chief of staff to Miscikowski. “And even within departments there are delays.”
Gritzner said that Miscikowski plans to bring the proposal to the Council’s personnel committee in January.
A similar proposal to streamline the city’s permitting process and speed through construction projects was contained in recommendations from L.A. Mayor James Hahn’s task force on economic recovery. While a facilities czar was not specifically recommended, the need to coordinate city departments was stressed.
Staff Reporter Howard Fine can be contacted at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227 or at
[email protected]
