Despite campaign promises to recruit more companies to L.A., just 25 percent of the projects Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s business team take credit for completing since he was inaugurated 21 months ago have been in the San Fernando Valley, an area that represents 47 percent of the city’s total area. Seven of the 28 projects completed by the mayor and his business team from July 2005 to July 2006 were in the Valley, according to a list of development projects released by the mayor’s office. Of those cited, all were housing- or retail-related. The shift in focus, say many observers of Villaraigosa’s once hard-charging business plan, is a direct result of the mayor’s refocusing attention on other city-related issues, chiefly reforming the Los Angeles Unified School District and increasing housing citywide. Valley business, it seems, has taken a back seat. “The problem with the mayor is he’s got a lot of initiatives going on,” said Valley City Councilman Greig Smith, one of the more business-friendly members of the council. “I’ve been very concerned.” Larry Kosmont, president and CEO of the Encino planning and land-use firm Kosmont Cos., agreed that the mayor’s calls for recruiting more companies have slowly dwindled, at least publicly. “I think that was his intent but I’m not sure where it went,” he said. Kosmont, who frequently works with the city, said the mayor is doing his best but questioned whether it’s working. “I know that economic development is a priority for the mayor and I know he’s been in process of assembling a good team around him, but I’ve not personally seen any big victories as of yet,” he said. The proactive executive Villaraigosa’s image of mayor-as-business-recruiter started long before his July 2005 inauguration. In campaigning, the former United Teachers Los Angeles labor organizer pledged that, if elected, he would cut government red tape, get city departments to work together and convince high-growth industries to open locations in L.A. And unlike his opponent, then-Mayor James Hahn, Villaraigosa would personally recruit new companies to come to L.A. and work to convince businesses already here not to leave. “Part of the job of the mayor is to be an advocate for our city and why they should keep those jobs here,” Villaraigosa said in an interview with the San Fernando Valley Business Journal in February 2005. “I will go to Boeing and NASA and personally speak with decision-makers and make the case for why Los Angeles is the best place for those jobs.” Today, the mayor has taken some notable steps towards delivering on the promise at least on the citywide level. His office says he played a key role in the multi-billion-dollar Grand Avenue plan downtown and reportedly personally had a hand in the L.A. Live entertainment district under construction near Staples Center, including convincing nutrition company Herbalife to sign a 10-year lease in the center for its headquarters. All together, the mayor’s business team helped retain and attract 3,000 jobs, worked on 30 projects and scored $150 million in capitalization and investment in the city from July 2005 to 2006. In the Valley, however, the attention has been focused almost entirely on housing and retail. The mayor’s office takes credit for the No Ho Commons mixed-use project, the Hart Village affordable housing complex in Canoga Park and helping obtain approvals for a multi-use entertainment project at the Reseda Theater. When asked about the discrepancy, Deputy Mayor Bud Ovrom pointed out that the mayor’s office has brought several key retailers to the Valley. He confirmed that retail has been the focus of the mayor’s efforts, especially in the eastern portion of the Valley. “Retail is a good source of revenue for us,” he said. Ovrom said the mayor has played a major role. “He’s personally involved with the developers and the retailers,” Ovrom said. “He’s a good deal maker.” Ovrom pointed specifically to Villaraigosa’s efforts to convince Macy’s to anchor the $560 million redevelopment of Valley Plaza at Victory and Laurel Canyon boulevards in North Hollywood. “These retailers are now looking here,” he said. Other major projects that the mayor has worked on include the $350 million redevelopment of Westfield Topanga shopping center in Canoga Park and the $3 billion proposal to expand Universal Studios Hollywood and construct more than 2,000 homes nearby. Villaraigosa has also been working to persuade Living Spaces Furniture to open a Valley location, Ovrom said. Several sources familiar with Villaraigosa and his business team said the mayor is extremely active in recruiting companies to come to L.A., but often cannot talk about details because of confidentiality agreements Such negotiations aren’t widely known, Ovrom said, because almost all are done out of the limelight with specific details under wraps. “It’s behind closed doors,” Ovrom said. “They make fun of how he’s always attracted to a camera, but that’s where some of these discussions are best done.” Bruce Ackerman, president and CEO of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, agreed that the mayor has been active on a number of fronts recruiting business to the Valley, although much of it goes unseen. “We have a standing commitment from the mayor and his business team that if we have a business that’s on the edge or needs some convincing, he will pick the phone up,” said Ackerman, who Villaraigosa named to the Community Redevelopment Agency board in fall 2005. “We take him up on it.” Helping at home But while Ackerman acknowledged the mayor’s efforts, he said more has to be done to make L.A. friendlier to business, especially concerning the city’s cumbersome approval processes and other bureaucracy. “(Villaraigosa) has to have the city’s departments back up the process so when (businesses) come here they don’t have this bureaucratic nightmare,” Ackerman said. “I don’t think you can ever do enough.” In fact, some contend the mayor should focus more on improving existing business conditions here versus lobbying for new companies. Shirley Svorny, chairwoman of the department of economics at California State University Northridge, said the concept of targeting specific businesses is flawed because it forces the city to gauge trends before they happen, an all but impossible task. “It’s hard for government to know what industries will be successful over time,” Svrony said. “Instead, what I would do is have across-the-board reductions in the business tax and facilitate easier business permitting.” Making the current conditions better would have more substantial results, she said. “That’s such a simple thing to do,” Svrony said. “You’re making it more costly if the permitting is complicated.” Ovrom said the mayor who was in Washington, D.C., last month with a cadre of business officials lobbying for federal dollars understands the concerns, and is working hard to help improve the city’s image. Asked later whether the mayor was working on any large deals with companies, the usually frank Ovrom refused to comment, saying only, “There are several good things happening.” “He’s the best salesman we have,” Ovrom said.
