EDITOR’S NOTE: After a long and tortured debate, the City Council voted 9-3 (Garcetti, Alarcon and Reyes opposed) to let the CRA die without the city becoming the successor agency burdened with its huge administrative costs and liabilities.
“O death where is thy
sting, O grave where is thy victory.” – 1Corinthians 15:55
There is a certain
sadistic pleasure in watching the contortions that LA city officials are going
through during these last days of the Community Redevelopment Agency.
The anger over abuses carried out under eminent domain
has given way to the pleasure of seeing the CRA’s imminent demise.
No longer will they be able to take endless millions of
taxpayer dollars intended to remove blight and help the poor and use the money instead
to build a garage for a billionaire’s personal art museum or an office building
for a profiteer in runaway film production or subsidize luxury hotels and
condominiums
The City Council has until Friday to decide whether it
will take on the unbelievable costs of staff and the enormous risks of massive
lawsuits that are likely with the dissolution of what amounted to the greatest
slush fund for redistributing the city’s wealth from taxpayers to wealthy
corporations and individuals.
A report Tuesday from the City Administrative Officer and
Chief Legislative Analyst left no doubt that it would be indefensible to
perpetuate the CRA fraud on the public any longer in no small part because of
the spectacular gravy train that the CRA’s 192 employees have been riding for
so long.
“CRA/LA salaries,
pension and benefits are significantly better than those currently provided to
most City employees (average City salary: $72,000; average CRA/LA salary:
$109,524),” the report says.
Say what? Average city salaries of $72,000? And the CRA
is even 50 percent higher?
It doesn’t stop there.
“Unlike City employees, CRA/LA employees pay Social
Security taxes (6%) and the CRA/LA pays the employer share (7.25%) In addition, CRA/LA employees are provided a CAL
PERS pension. The current MOU’s provide that CRAIlA pays the employer share of the CAL
PERS pension (15.89%) and also picks
up the employee’s share (7%). In total, CRA/LA is funding employee related
retirement only costs at almost 30 percent. For comparison, LACERS
funding is at 27 percent, but that also includes retiree health which is not included in the CRA/LA 30 percent…
“In addition, CRA/LA MOU‘s provides retiree health benefits that are funded on a
pay-as-you-go basis and provide for different vesting schedules and higher maximum dollar contributions than those provided to current City employees. CRA/LA employees do not contribute any
monies to pay for the costs of retiree health. Given the escalation of health care costs, should the
City become the successor agency. it will inherit a substantial unfunded liability.”
The outrageous deals given to CRA employees parallelling those given to developers ought to have been evidence enough to justify killing the agency with its total disregard for the public’s money — money that was taken from the schools, from the police, from paving streets and sidewalks.
The bottom line is that the city would face $j109 million in new costs when it already is running a deficit of at least $72 million and a shortfall for next year of over $200 million.
“The funding that the state allows doesn’t come close to what the costs
are,” CAO Miguel Santana said Tuesday. “We can’t afford it.”
The mayor agreed and the Council, taking up the issue today, will certainly go along and refuse to become the successor agency to the CRA and put the city at further financial risk although some like Jan Perry, the queen of CRA largess to friendly developers, has qualms.
“Everything
is in chaos right now,” said Perry, who wants to be mayor.
“We’re getting calls from developers every day, saying what’s going to
happen to my project? We need to answer them and quickly.”
Going forward what really matters is the fact that economic development in the future will have to be done in the daylight out of the general fund instead of hidden in the darkness of CRA operations and the tax increments it kept to spend so freely. It will be much harder to take taxpayer money and give to the wealthy in the future with making a compelling case for substantial benefits to the public.
The politicians fought the CRA abolition and still hope to revive in some form because there was no accountability for the deals they cut with contributors and friends.
What Zanhiser missed is that CRA gave raises , yes raises, in the last few weeks!!!!!!!!!
Shutter the agency; sell the furniture; and fire them all.
Yay yay yay!
One raise last week was an increase of approx $40,000 a year – from est. 122,000 to 166,000. Someone who has a high school diploma plus some seminar courses. These type actions bloat the total liabilities assummed by a Successor Entity.
Lots of cra ezpenditures and salary adjustments are being made during January.
The rats on the good ship CRA-Titanic are running around giving themselves raises and leaping for the DWP-Lifeboats. These raises, which literally amount to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, demonstrate the utter depravity of CRA brains on the “crack” of tax increment: Please give me some more more more before I go down with the ship!
And Madeline Janis oversaw the entire corrupt mess. She rubberstamped every horrible project including the giveaway to Eli Broad’s crap art museum and the cesspool on Vine Street that Eric Garcetti wanted. Janis can play her woeful and sad tune in the LA Times like the violinist in the band that went down with the Titanic.
Let it all sink to the deepest bottom of the ocean where the CRA and all of its former Board members deserve to be: As close to HELL as possible.
In addition to raises/promotions, all staff who were on their end step of their salary schedule received a 2%+ bonus increase on 01/01/12 per CRA MOU. Per the MOU, CRA staff has received approx 5% increases for each of the last five years.
Thank You, Jerry Brown!
Thank You, Jerry Brown!
Yes, congratulations to Governor Jerry Brown who has the experience and wisdom to tell the moronic whores of the Democratic Party that the party is over and now they have to pay their bills. For decades, the Democratic Party from Southern California has dominated the Legislature and driven our state government into the ditch. They did this because they spent more time thinking about their next job than serving the public interest they were elected to serve.
The state and the City is broke. Extremely poor management, failure to eliminate the structural deficits, inability to plan for a rainy day. Individual voters know how to live within their means, but not the Legislature or the LA City Council. I hope many of them are turned out of office in the Voter’s Version of granting them “early retirement”. They are NOT FIT FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.
Janis was “furious” that the corrupt socialist state she was in charge of was killed. Good riddance. I`sure Antonio will find another spot for her so that she continues destroying our City.
Yes, Madeline Janis and Chris Essel are a complete embarrassment as officials “serving” the public interest. I am especially troubled with the reports that CRA staff were granted last minute raises this past week. Were Janis and Essel involved in these decisions? If so, they are not fit for another public appointment… anywhere.
Yes, Madeline Janis and Chris Essel are a complete embarrassment as officials “serving” the public interest. I am especially troubled with the reports that CRA staff were granted last minute raises this past week. Were Janis and Essel involved in these decisions? If so, they are not fit for another public appointment… anywhere.
Has anyone read Janis’s articles in Citywatch. They make me ill each time. She is out of touch with the real world and the new economy. Being a CRA commie & working for LAANE with Durazo on the Board will do that.
Chris essel and the Board are and have been directing eveything along with the Mayor and City Council, particulary now before 1/31/12. Rumor is that they may plan to issue 120-day lay off notices to all staff before Essel loses authority 2/1/12, then hire certain staff as consultants prior to the last cra board meeting 1/29/12. At what amount? Then the contracts become a commitment. Someone should contact the State Director of Finance who will be the ultimate decision maker as to eligible costs.
It is vital that the crooks in Sacramento, e.g. Feuer, Padilla, Steinberg, Curren Price, etc know that we are watching them and anyone who extends the CRA’s one day past 2-1-2012 will be opposed at the next election.
We have the Tea Party on the right and now the Coffee Grinders on the left and between the two, we will capture, hog tie and exile these thievin’ varmints
Also, good bye trust fund baby, wannabe mayor, CRA lovin’s Garcettoid; you’ve been a parasite devouring the city tax dollars long enough
With only two weeks left until the state takes over CRA, Chris Essel is continuing to hand out promotions. She made 3 direct appointment promotions just this week. Everything that Chris has done in these last few weeks should be reversed by the state appointed commission. Chris Essel is an absolute embarrassment to the City.
All cra actions will be subject to the review/approval first of the 7 member Oversight Board and then the state appointed 3 member commission. The ultimate decision is by the State Director of Finance as to the allowable enforceable obligations to be assummed from cra as of 2/1/12. The County Auditor will be doing an audit in May.
Under the current legislative directive cra’s actions were frozen with only limited actions to operate allowed prior to 2/1/12. Somehow the Director of Finance should be directly notified. Could a cease and desist order be issued immediately. So difficult to undo commitments made by cra later. Essel has no ethics and is the Mayor’s puppet as so many are.
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