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  ED RHEE Los Angeles mayoral candidates James Hahn (above) and Antonio Villaraigosa (below right) speak at the Inner-City Economics Forum Monday, held at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. The panel also featured political, business and academic leaders.

By Josh Wolf

Daily Bruin Contributor

Mayoral candidates addressed the public Monday as part of a panel discussion on the future of the Los Angeles economy.

The panel, sponsored in part by The Anderson School at UCLA, consisted of a collection of political, business and academic leaders who joined to discuss the Inner-City Economic Report, which presents the findings of the Inner-City Economic Summit from a year ago.

Education was a recurring theme coming from both the panel members and the mayoral candidates.

Bruce Willison, dean of The Anderson School, commented on the connection between UCLA and the L.A. economy, exemplified by the location of the discussion – Freud Playhouse.

  ED RHEE He said an important approach to inner-city economics combines education, workforce training, technology and the bolstering of both community safety and pride.

John Bryant, the founder and CEO of Operation HOPE – a group that describes itself as a public/private partnership for urban economic empowerment and hosted the discussion – addressed the changing definitions in economics. He paraphrased Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, in providing a new definition of wealth: education, information and access to these resources.

Bryant said no one vehicle can provide this for L.A., but the government, the community and the private sector will have to work together to achieve economic goals.

This sentiment was mirrored by Xavier Becerra, a member of the United States House of Representatives who previously represented Los Angeles in the California legislature. “Here in Los Angeles, if we’re to succeed, we must do it as a partnership,” Becerra said.

After these statements set the stage, James Hahn and Antonio Villaraigosa, the two candidates in the L.A. mayoral run-off, presented their goals for the city’s economy.

Misperceptions are the cause of the lack of investment in the inner-city according to Hahn, and overcoming these stereotypes is the key to advancing the inner-city economy.

Hahn, the L.A. city attorney, cited his success with bringing new businesses into a community by decreasing gang activity. He said by decreasing crime, his office was able to encourage the infusion of new businesses that further improved the area. As a result of this process, Hahn said both the government and community members must work to attract businesses.

“We both have a responsibility to bring jobs to the community,” Hahn said.

In response to a question from the panel, Hahn said he supported paying city officials to participate in community outreach programs in order to uphold the city’s responsibility to this issue.

After-school programs that encourage children to explore their interests in order to keep them off the streets and help businesses feel comfortable investing in the area are central to Hahn’s proposal, as is the need to prepare children for jobs in the new economy.

Citing Stanford’s contribution to the Silicon Valley and a similar relationship between schools in Boston and local industries, Hahn encouraged the development of biomedical research in collaboration with UCLA and USC.

Hahn emphasized the importance of his proposals in conjunction with the panel discussion. “This needs to be more than an event-oriented process.”

Villaraigosa spoke next and praised the nature of the report

“It doesn’t just identify problems, it reflects a thoughtful process to identify assets,” Villaraigosa said.

He said that this approach supports his idea that “there are human assets here. There’s a whole community that wants to be included.”

Villaraigosa highlighted many areas for improvement in this process.

He called for measures that would encourage the development of local industries instead of leaving companies to search for foreign markets. He said Los Angeles is trailing the nation by 20 percent in home ownership.

He blamed current officials for failing to pursue $200 million that he made accessible for housing development projects through his work at the state level.

Championing new thinking for schools, Villaraigosa suggested incorporating parent centers, constructing parks and building 100 new schools with modern architectural styles to take advantage of the available resources while decreasing class sizes.

“We should use the report as a blueprint: a creative approach to inner-city financing,” Villaraigosa said.

And while not every problem is factored into this blueprint, Villaraigosa still thinks the government can play a role. “There’s not a program for every problem, but the government can provide support.

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