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W W W. D O W N T O W N N E W S . C O M
May 2, 2011
Volume 40, Number 18
INSIDE
Mother’s Day
CRACKING THE CODE Development Reform Effort Tries to Overcome Hurdles, Including Past Failures and the Departure of a Key Advocate
Urban Scrawl on the budget crisis.
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Rent resolution at El Pueblo?
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Check out Downtown’s shining Treasures.
City officials are four months into a new effort to streamline Los Angeles’ Byzantine permitting process. Numerous previous development reform efforts have failed to gain traction.
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by Ryan vaillancouRt staff wRiteR
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The story of Skid Row’s top cop.
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The kids put on a secret show.
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veryone knows that getting a construction project approved in Los Angeles is a difficult and often maddening task. Land-use professionals even have a name for the expensive, time consuming trip as they tote blueprints and other materials from counter to counter at the departments of Building and Safety, Planning, Water and Power and others: They call it the Suitcase Tour of Los Angeles. The hurdles are legion: too many departments have a say in the process; there’s a “culture of no” inside the Department of Building and Safety, critics say; one entity will approve a certain proposal,
A Mini-Play About Frank and Jamie, Before the $100 Million Crash by Jon RegaRdie
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21 CALENDAR LISTINGS 24 MAP 25 CLASSIFIEDS
it as the “most exciting change” he has seen at City Hall in the four and a half years since he had arrived in Los Angeles. Six months later, followers of the effort to fix the system see pros and cons. On the one hand, a consultant hired by the city has begun tackling the issues and is orchestrating a plan with actual implementation points. On the other hand, there are cost concerns, and some worry that Beutner’s impending departure to run for mayor will leave the effort without the City Hall champion any major upgrade needs. Quick Fixes The key step in the current attempt at developsee Development, page 16
Theater of the McCourts executive editoR
Downtown celebrates Cinco de Mayo.
only to have another disallow it. There is also a history of failed efforts to repair the system. The most recent came in 2008, when Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Council President Eric Garcetti proposed a plan called “12-to-2,” because it would have consolidated the dozen departments involved in the entitlement and permitting processes down to two. It went nowhere. It was against this background that First Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner last fall announced a plan to hire a team of expert consultants to fix the problem once and for all. The enthusiasm was immediate. After watching a November presentation, President and CEO Gary Toebben, the CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, hailed
Setting: A chic Downtown Los Angeles restaurant. Time: An evening in October 2008 after the Dodgers swept the Chicago Cubs in the ThE rEgarDiE rEpOrT
National League Division Series, the team’s first playoff series victory in 20 years. Act I: Frank and Jamie McCourt are escorted to the finest table in the restaurant. Before sitting, Frank hands the maitre d’ a $100 bill. Frank: Thank you garkon. Jamie: Frank, it’s one of those French c’s
with the little wiggly thing on its bottom. It’s pronounced gar-sohn. Frank: I own the Dodgers! It’s whatever I say it is! I brought Manny Ramirez to Los Angeles. The people working the concession stands worked hard to make the money for that tip. Jamie: I love it when you’re forceful. It seems like just yesterday we bought the Dodgers for $430 million. I think I’ll love you forever. Frank: Me too. The only ones who love me more than you are the citizens of Los Angeles. We just gave them a playoff victory. Do you know what that means? Jamie: No darling, what? see McCourts, page 15
The Voice of Downtown Los Angeles
photo by Gary Leonard
Frank and Jamie McCourt in happier times.