(June 14, 2005, updated from initial post) -- In an anticlimactic result after years of seemingly interminable discussion regarding Redevelopment in LB, the LB City Council voted 9-0 at its June 14 meeting to approve a motion by Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga as follows:

"The independent study did not make any recommendation in terms of governance, and so with that I would like to make a motion...to conclude the hearing, receive and file the independent study of RDA and related reports, request the City Manager to return to the City Council within 45 days with recommendations for implementation concerning all options presented over the last twelve months."

In 2003, against a backdrop of simmering dissatisfaction with Redevelopment in LB, Mayor Beverly O'Neill ignited an extraordinarily divisive debate by claiming she wanted greater diversity on the RDA board in declining to advance nominees to the board advanced by independent Project Area Committees under a Council-approved process. That was followed by another firestorm after a proposal was floated to merge Redevelopment project areas.

In 2004, the Redevelopment Agency governing board commissioned preparation of an "independent study" of LB RDA's record, but despite pleas from some activists didn't include an audit. Other activists settled for an "independent study" without an audit.

The "independent study" -- which consumed $400,000+ in public resources -- included various recommendations. In August 2004, City Manager Jerry Miller suggested that the Council consider making itself the RDA's governing board. At the June 14, 2005, City Manager Miller publicly suggested that he be given time to return with plans to implement the "independent study" recommendations.

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