Christine Essel Assumes Leadership of CRA/LA

What enticed you to accept the CEO CRA/LA offer at a time of such budgetary stress?

For me it was the right time in my life to move into the public sector. I ran for City Council last year with that intention and when that didn't come to pass, the CRA/LA position opened up. Having fond memories of being on the CRA/LA board and being proud of the work we did in the 1990s, I thought this would be a great spot for me. It combines the background that I have and makes use of my skills in politics, development, the civic arena, community relations, and management. And it challenges me on all these levels. Although I knew the position was not going to be easy, it is the right kind of challenge for me at this point in my life.

Given the state's recent fiscal takeaway from local redevelopment agencies and the city of Los Angeles' growing budget shortfalls, what assets remain in CRA/LA's toolbox going forward to implement the promise of the CRA/LA to be a benefit to neighborhoods and the city?

There's no doubt that we need to be more clever now that we have fewer resources. But it's not just the $85 million that the state has taken through the SERAF. We are also faced with the fact that property taxes are being reassessed in some of our larger parcels and project areas, so we are going to feel the effects of that much like we did in the '90s. Eleven project areas out of our 32 will expire by 2015, which means we're losing a good third of our portfolio.

As a result, we've had to look at staffing levels and our overhead. We're in the process of reducing our costs, which will help us streamline a lot of our activities. We are also in the middle of an early retirement incentive program that passed through City Council earlier this month. We expect to lose about 45 to 50 of our 263 employees in the process, so we'll be restructuring around that.

With all that going on we still have resources, and we are looking at new sources of funding. We've been able to pull in a lot of resources from outside of the traditional tax increment model, such as Prop 1C funding, ARRA funding, and funding from many other sources. All those funds add to our ability to make improvements to our project areas.

Part of the problem with the early retirement program by the city of L.A. last year was that it led to the early exodus of some of the most senior and experienced managers in the city at a time of great challenge for all the departments. Is that likely to be the result at CRA/LA as well?

We have a lot of senior staff here, in terms of the number of years that they've been at the agency. About half of the agency could apply for the early retirement package. I don't see that being a big problem. Yes, we will lose some people, but some of the people that are going to leave would probably have left in the next couple of years anyhow. This just makes it a better deal for them to retire earlier. It also allows us to keep a lot of the younger staff that we've hired in recent times, and I'm excited that we'll be able to keep many of those individuals on staff. If we had gone in the direction of layoffs, we would have lost a lot of emerging talent. Having a blend of both is going to be really good for the agency.

CRA/LA has just lost from its board one of the best people in the city. Talk a little bit about your present board and its ambitions.

It was very tragic to for CRA/LA to lose Bruce Ackerman. Bruce enticed me to take this position; he's the person who led the interview panel and the person I talked to before I applied for the job. It is a big loss for me both on a personal and professional level. The Mayor's Office has named Dwayne Gathers to be Bruce's replacement. Dwayne and I have a long-standing relationship. He comes from the world of economic development, and he will be a real asset to our already terrific board. At this point we don't have a new board chair. That is yet to be determined.

Let's turn to the RFP just issued by CRA/LA to jump-start development of a clean tech manufacturing center under the auspices of the CRA/LA. What are the city's ambitions for a clean-tech manufacturing center? What is the asset being offered?

It's a 20-acre site, and we view it as the southern anchor of the clean tech corridor. There are many possible uses that would apply: clean energy, clean water technology, green building materials and furnishings, and reduced emissions vehicle technology. We want at least 100 net new jobs minimum as part of the RFP process, and we want to bring about 250 new jobs into that site. We are willing to look at a single developer or multiple developers, depending what is the best fit. And we'll get our responses by December 3, 2010. Obviously we want something that will live up to the clean tech name we've given this particular RFP.

The Mayor's Office has invested a lot in attracting BYD-America to headquarter in L.A. and to perhaps do assembly work in north county. Is the CRA/LA seeking a BYD-like company for the clean tech corridor?

I would think that it is. The mayor's office took the lead on BYD, but we assisted them during the process to close that deal. That would be the perfect type of use.

There was talk in the past about a merger or consolidation of the CRA/LA with other city departments, even though CRA/LA is really a state, not a city, agency. Can you update our readers on the status of those conversations about consolidating city agencies?

That has not come up as a topic, but what I can say that will be beneficial to your readers is that we are all working very closely now as city departments on development reform. Building and Safety, the Planning Department, and the CRA/LA have joined together, and we are looking at ways we can merge functions or, in terms of specific development deals, how we can work more closely together, decide who takes the lead on various activities, and see how quickly we can get projects through the system.

One of the ways the Planning Department is working with the CRA/LA is to look at new project areas and how we can tie our project areas into the community plans for those areas, like the Cornfield-Arroyo Seco region. That is now a specific plan and will become a project area, but we're going to share the same plans for that particular area. We're working together on the Hollywood and Sunset Boulevard District guidelines, having a joint hearing with our two commissions in December so that our guidelines will fit into the Hollywood Community Plan. There's a lot of ways that we can work together to help expedite development projects going forward.

There's always been much civic tension in the past between industrial and housing development interest groups. What are your views, and the board's views, on preservation of scarce industrial land uses? Do industrial properties still need special city land use protections?

Clearly we need to create jobs in the city. The CRA/LA is one of the only tools that the city has for that mission, and that's part of why I am here. Utilizing industrial land to create jobs is a top priority. We are working with Planning on an industrial job zoning effort. The issues that were present before have not resurfaced at this point in time.

We look at each of our project areas in a sustainable way as opposed to making them purely industrial or purely residential. We ask how we can create sustainable communities where people can live, work, and recreate in the same part of the city without always having to drive so far.

Resource issues are challenging for every city, especially, it appears, for the city of Los Angeles. With the state budget not yet finalized, do you fear that there will be more state takeaways from redevelopment agencies such as CRA/LA?

I'm not getting the sense that we are part of the solution this year. Most of our state legislators realize that it would be a mistake to take more funding from one of the best tools the state has to revitalize our economy. They have already taken $2 billion out of redevelopment. I think they realize it would be a mistake to take more. I'm hopeful that we will remain intact going forward.

If we have an opportunity to speak a year from now-one year into your tenure at CRA?LA-what do you believe we'll be addressing that will be the same or different from this month's interview?

We'll be talking about the new CRA/LA. My focus is internal, on turning the agency around so we streamline the process and reorganize the staff to be effective and efficient. We will be better integrated into the city family and will be getting the message out about the value of redevelopment. We'll be working internally and externally. We'll be working on economic development, and you'll see us contribute to the economic growth of the city as a whole. I view economic development as the fourth leg of the CRA/LA stool. We've done a great job with commercial development, housing, and infrastructure in the past. Now let's put our tools to use to create jobs. We'll be looking back on how we moved the needle forward on that issue.