LA City Council Moving Forward On Measures To Add Transparency To Development Decisions

Real Estate Partner Ryan Leaderman was cited in a Bisnow article about recent efforts from the Los Angeles City Council to increase transparency in the development approval process. These come in the aftermath of federal corruption charges against former City Councilman José Huizar and aim to prevent the abuses of power alleged in the charges. Among the proposed measures is a requirement for high-value projects to go directly before the City Council for review, skipping review by the planning and land use management (PLUM) committee. Mr. Leaderman commented that while Huizar was in office, he encountered issues with getting projects on the PLUM committee's agenda because "we had no tools to force PLUM to agendize something." The current proposals do not include a mechanism for doing so, but he said he hoped the final versions would.

"[A councilmember can] delay a project or not give it the time of day as a result of whatever concerns they have about the project. And they may be legitimate concerns, but they have all that power," he explained.

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