Council votes against prolonging redevelopment

Despite heavy lobbying by developers, council members decided it wasn't a good idea to effectively take over the Community Redevelopment Agency. Vote was 9-3 (Garcetti, Alarcon and Reyes dissented, and Parks and Perry were absent). The vote comes after warnings by L.A. budget officials that costs could run to to $109 million - money that the city can't really spare. At stake are 200 CRA jobs and dozens of projects, the result of the state cutting off funding. From the LAT:

City Hall lobbyist John Whitaker told council members they should not "send the wrong message to the development community" by leaving the task of sorting out its redevelopment commitments to another government agency. And lawyer Shiraz Tangri, another registered lobbyist, warned the city could face legal liability by failing to honor its existing redevelopment obligations. "The litigation risks remain very heavy for the city if it walks away for these projects," warned Tangri, who worked on efforts to develop the Grand Avenue project.