KB Home Chief Gets $34-Million Pay Package

Bruce Karatz, the chairman and chief executive of KB Home, earned $34 million in salary and bonuses in its fiscal year ended Nov. 30, a 70 percent increase that nearly matched the company’s surge in annual profit, a regulatory filing revealed Thursday. Karatz received a $28-million restricted stock award, double what he got in 2004, the Los Angeles Times reported. His base salary bumped up 10 percent to $1.1 million, but his $5-million annual cash bonus remained unchanged. In addition to salary and bonuses, Karatz also received stock options on 250,000 shares with an exercise price of $62.34 and $3.53 million under the company’s long-term incentive program. He also enjoyed $296,000 in perks, including use of the corporate jet.

Broads Give Millions for Biotech Hub


Eli and Edythe Broad are donating $25 million toward a stem-cell research center at the University of Southern California. The $150 million Broad Institute for Integrative Biology and Stem Cell Research at USC’s Keck School of Medicine is seen as an economic engine for Southern California. The 215,000-square-foot institute is envisioned adjacent to the proposed biomedical research centers and medical facilities that would form Biomedtech Park. Broad said the institute and biomedical park could create 8,500 jobs in East L.A., 16,000 morejobs in L.A. County and 600 jobs at USC. Biomedtech park could generate $1.3 billion annually in economic activity and $75 million in tax revenue for local and state coffers, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported.

L.A. Housing Still Nation’s Least Affordable


The Los Angeles metropolitan area remained the nation’s least affordable housing market for the sixth consecutive quarter in the final three months of last year, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index. In the L.A./Glendale/Long Beach area, just 2.3 percent of the homes sold in the 2005 fourth quarter were affordable to families earning the median income of $54,500, the Pasadena Star-News reported. Nationally, just 41 percent of the homes sold were affordable to families earning the median income, a record low. The most affordable major metro area was Indianapolis, where 88.7 percent of the homes sold were affordable to families earning the median income of $64,000.

Labor Leaders Fail to Name Ludlow Successor


L.A. labor leaders failed Thursday to name a successor to former City Councilman Martin Ludlow. The 32-member executive board of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor met privately but made no decision on who should fill the post of executive secretary-treasurer. One union official said board members wanted more time to hear from delegates before committing to a new leader, the Los Angeles Times reported. Within labor circles, the expectation was that the leading candidate remains Maria Elena Durazo, the head of Unite Here Local 11 and widow of the late federation leader Miguel Contreras. But some union officials are touting Kent Wong of the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education. A two-thirds vote of the board would be required to appoint an interim chief.

Another WGA Official Ousted


The Writers Guild of America, West, fired communications chief Cheryl Rhoden after nearly 20 years on the job as the union continued a shake-up of its executive ranks. Rhoden, an assistant executive director, was ousted this week after clashes with interim Executive Director David Young, the Los Angeles Times reported. Her exit is the latest in a string of high-level departures at the guild, which ousted its top administrator, John McLean, in September in a push by newly elected leaders to negotiate more aggressively with studios and step up organizing efforts. In November, the guild fired General Counsel and Deputy Executive Director Marshall M. Goldberg. Strategic planning head Greg Bernstein recently resigned.

MTA Board Warming to Wilshire Extension


Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s “subway to the sea” gained momentum Thursday as the MTA board warmed to the idea of marshaling resources behind a $4.8 billion Red Line extension through the Westside. A growing number of MTA board members agreed that if a costly subway should be built anywhere, it should be under Wilshire Boulevard, where it was initially envisioned 20 years ago, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported. Now that the state is considering $12 billion in transportation bonds and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, has reversed his longstanding opposition, Villaraigosa sees the chance to kick-start the project that experts agree would need help from Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

Universal Music Label to Be Split Into Two


The nation’s largest music company, Universal Music Group, plans to split one of its largest divisions in two, company executives said. Universal Motown Records Group, until now co-headed by executives Monte Lipman and Sylvia Rhone, will be split into Universal Republic, overseen by Lipman, and Universal Motown, headed by Rhone. The New York-based labels are expected to hire as many as 30 new employees between them, the Los Angeles Times reported.

L.A. Group Strives to Build a Better Workforce


Faced with new indications that the L.A.economy is heading in a perilous direction, the city’s workforce development board gathered Thursday to look for ways to help. L.A. has numerous economic challenges, including a growing underground economy, a large and poorly educated immigrant workforce, and a widening gap between high-wage and low-wage jobs, said the city-commissioned Los Angeles Economy Project. The study found that 28 percent of L.A. adults had less than a high school education and more than 10 percent made it no further than sixth grade, the Los Angeles Times reported. Job growth in Los Angeles has been anemic compared with the state and country, and has been concentrated in the northern and western parts of the city.