When James Hahn was campaigning for the job of L.A. mayor, he said business concerns and economic development would be among his top priorities. Two weeks into his administration, Hahn delivered on a promise for business tax reform by signing a passel of ordinances that, among other things, created a tax amnesty and a special panel to resolve business tax disputes.
But Hahn’s economic development team has been slower to emerge, even as he has made most of his key commission appointments. As of late last week, Hahn administration officials and advisors said the two crucial picks deputy mayor for economic development and director of the L.A. Business Team would not be made until well into August.
“The economic development deputy is a high-priority position and the focus is on getting it right, not bowing to time pressure,” said George Kieffer, one of Hahn’s key policy advisors and an attorney with Manatt, Phelps & Philips.
The administration is still seeking more resumes for the two posts, according to Hahn press aide Julie Wong. The trick, she said, is to find candidates who have experience both in the business world and in “getting things done at City Hall.”
Padilla to Reorder Committees
As promised, City Council President Alex Padilla proposed several crucial changes to city council committees, the most sweeping changes since 1989.
For L.A.’s business community, the key changes are in the Community and Economic Development and Housing and Community Redevelopment committees. Under Padilla’s proposal, business development functions would be consolidated into a new Economic Development and Employment committee, while housing issues would be consolidated into a new Housing and Community Development committee.
Padilla’s proposed committee reorganization still needs final approval from the council this week before it takes effect.
Then there’s the question of who will head the economic development committee. During their campaigns, councilmembers Ed Reyes, Janice Hahn and Jan Perry all stressed economic development. But so have veteran councilmembers like Mark Ridley-Thomas and Nick Pacheco.
BID Bill Signed Into Law
Earlier this month, Gov. Gray Davis signed into law Hollywood Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg’s bill clarifying how business improvement districts are to be governed. The bill, AB 1021, said the non-profit boards that set policy and make decisions for BIDs will remain private entities, but must hold open meetings and comply with other provisions of the state’s Brown Act.
Goldberg introduced the bill this past spring in the wake of a successful lawsuit brought by Hollywood property owner Aaron Epstein, who was unhappy with decisions made by the HED board and sought to open its meetings to the general public. Last March, the state Second District Court of Appeals ruled that a BID board was a legislative body and therefore subject to all the rules and regulations governing such public bodies.
BID officials up and down the state were concerned by the ruling, fearing it would force private property owners serving on the BID board to release their personal income statements.
Goldberg brokered a compromise that BID board members would retain their private status, as long as they opened up their meetings to the public
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Staff Reporter Howard Fine can be contacted by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227 or by e-mail at [email protected].
