CRA Official Agrees to Take Buyout Offer

Battered in a dispute with the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency board over the department’s future, agency Administrator John Molloy said Tuesday he is taking a retirement buyout package effective today.

Molloy, 52, issued a terse statement saying he is proud of his four years at the helm of the CRA and thanking the agency staff for its work.

“Now that we have established a truly aggressive project agenda over the next five years, it is time for me to take on other challenges,� Molloy said.

The statement made scant mention of the agency’s budget problems and his dispute with the board, which had recently refused to approve Molloy’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins Thursday.

Tuesday was the deadline for Molloy to take a voluntary retirement incentive package offered by the CRA board to reduce the staff.

Under the plan, Molloy and other employees will receive four years’ unearned credit toward retirement with the California Public Employee Retirement System. That incentive boosts Molloy’s annual retirement benefit by 6.4%, or about $10,000.

Molloy clashed with the board over its proposal to reorganize the agency and to make deep cuts in its staff.

Last week, in an appearance before the City Council, Molloy warned that proposals to cut the staff below 200 employees would jeopardize the agency’s ability to fulfill its mission.

“This type of cut would have negative ramifications on our ability to provide services throughout our project areas,� Molloy said in a June 17 letter to the board.

He noted that the agency staff had already been cut from 350 to 210 employees in the last five years while the number of redevelopment project areas increased to 31. The budget he proposed for the new fiscal year would have trimmed 10 more positions.

On Tuesday, Molloy told his allies on the City Council that he was frustrated to be at loggerheads with the agency board over its desire to make deeper staff cuts than he felt prudent.

Councilwoman Rita Walters said it was clear the two sides were headed for a showdown.

“It was far from an ideal relationship between the general manager and the commission,� Walters said.

One CRA board member confirmed that Molloy had been told by individuals on the board that his contract might not be renewed when it expired Sept. 30 and that it might be wise for him to take the buyout.

Molloy asked the board last October to extend the contract but the board refused to act.