The Central City Association invites its Executive and Business Advocacy level members to participate in a wide range of issue-oriented committees. CCA members are movers and shakers who take initiatives from the ground up through completion. The group has a solid track record of shaping policy issues and making plans and projects happen.

Committee Opportunities include:
Arts, Retail & Hospitality
Economic Development
Entertainment
Executive
Government Relations
Housing, Land Use & Development
Housing Production Subcommittee
Public Safety, Health & Homelessness
Transportation & Infrastructure
Urban Design: The Art of Making a City

ARTS, RETAIL & HOSPITALITY
Chair:  Cedd Moses, 213 VENTURES
Vice Chair:  Jerry Neuman, ALLEN MATKINS
Meets:  As Needed, CCA Conference Room

CCA is committed to the long-term health and viability of Los Angeles and Downtown. Building on Downtown’s ever-increasing list of entertainment venues and internationally renowned tourist destinations, this committee is focused on attracting and enhancing amenities that will serve the fast-growing residential population, as well as  keeping  the area’s nearly 500,000 workers in Downtown after work.  At the same time, the committee will work closely with arts and cultural projects that will draw people in from across the region, such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Grand Avenue and L.A. Live.

• Identifies innovative opportunities for partnerships between the business community and cultural entities
• Promotes existing and planned cultural, retail and entertainment venues as an economic tool for the continued revitalization of Downtown Los Angeles
• Identifies opportunities to leverage Downtown’s unique offerings and packages them in ways that are more consumer friendly
• Promotes dialogue among the various entertainment, retail and hospitality venues by ensuring that individual projects are woven into the overall fabric of Downtown, e.g. through better transportation connectivity and synchronized hours of operation
• Analyzes individual Downtown projects -- from the revitalization of historic theaters, to the expansion of cultural and retail opportunities, to debating a new football stadium -- and makes recommendations
• Endeavors to build on Downtown’s momentum as the center of culture, entertainment, retail and sports for the entire Southern California region

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Chair: Patrick Spillane, IDS REAL ESTATE GROUP
Vice Chair: Derrick Moore, CB Richard Ellis
Meets: As Needed, CCA Conference Room

One of CCA’s most dynamic committees, this committee is currently developing, in conjunction with the DCBID, a business retention and attraction strategy for Downtown Los Angeles that will be implemented over the next three years.

• Gives CCA members the opportunity to stay abreast of the latest and most important real estate development projects being planned for Downtown
• Works closely with real estate brokers, hoteliers, developers and representatives from various City departments and agencies to attract business and visitors to Downtown
• Provides a forum for developers and stakeholders to present their projects to CCA members
• Designs programs and initiatives to bring more commercial, retail, housing and cultural development Downtown

CCA is the lead advocate for the motion picture industry.  Recognizing the importance of the film industry to L.A.’s economy, this committee tackles many of the major concerns facing the entertainmnet industry, such as production incentives, parking needs and building productive and cooperative relationships with area residents.

• Reviews and takes positions on state and local legislation that impacts the film industry
• Works with stakeholders to maintain Downtown as the “Most-filmed Location on Earth” 
• Facilitates constructive dialogue between the entertainment industry, Downtown property owners and residents on key issues affecting filming
  

EXECUTIVE
Chair: Chris Essel, PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Meets: First Thursday of the month, 11:45 am, Various Locations

Limited to Executive Committee level members and standing committee chairs.  Executive Committee members lead the organization by making final decisions on major legislation, policies and initiatives affecting business and on recommended candidate endorsements. This committee oversees all standing CCA policy committees.

• Endorses candidates for elected office at the City, County and State levels
• Takes positions on public policy issues that affect the business, economic and social climate in Los Angeles
• Meets privately with key Federal, State, County and City decision-makers

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Chair: John Murray, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL PURCHASING COUNCILS
Vice Chair:  John Donner, AT&T
Meets:  As Needed, 8 AM, CCA Conference Room

By invitation only.  The Government Relations committee focuses on building and maintaining strong ties between business and politics.  It promotes open and constructive dialogue between the business community and government, giving CCA members an opportunity to voice concerns about existing or proposed policies and actions.  Tasked with interviewing candidates for public office and recommending endorsements to CCA’s Executive Committee, this committee also is responsible for reviewing controversial policy issues and ballot initiatives.

• Meets regularly with elected and appointed officials, key department heads, and strategic administrative personnel at the City, County and State level on a variety of issues
• Interviews candidates for public office and makes recommendations to CCA’s Executive Committee
• Provides a consistent forum for government to hear the voice of Los Angeles’ business community

HOUSING, LAND USE & DEVELOPMENT
Chair: Cindy Starrett, LATHAM & WATKINS
Co Chair: Jim Atkins, THE SOUTH GROUP
Meets: Third Wednesday of the Month, As Needed, 8:00 AM, CCA Conference Room

CCA has led L.A.’s business community on city-wide development, housing, and land use issues for over 20 years.   Comprised of L.A.’s leading developers, land use attorneys and other professionals from the for-profit and non-profit communities, this very active committee advocates policies that promote efficient development of all kinds, as well as for policies that promote a vibrant Downtown Los Angeles.  This committee has taken the lead on recent City policies such as an affordable housing bond, inclusionary zoning, industrial land strategy, development reform, condominium conversions, and policies that impact investment in Los Angeles real estate.

• Promotes a development reform agenda that will streamline Los Angeles’ convoluted development process
• Advocates against onerous interim control ordinances and legislative agendas that have discouraged critical investment in housing and commercial development
• Leads the business community’s response to the City’s study of industrial land use and its freeze on processing industrial land conversion cases 
• Drafts business community policy papers including: the “Housing for All: Fair Share Program” as a practical, implementable alternative to mandatory inclusionary zoning; “L.A.’s Housing Supply Crisis” regarding housing production; and papers on development reform, industrial land use, and condominium conversions
• Meets regularly with City officials to express housing and development community’s needs
• Reviews commercial development and housing projects proposed for Downtown
• Monitors City, County and State policies and legislation that impact the real estate and development community and takes action when appropriate
   

HOUSING PRODUCTION SUBCOMMITTEE
Chair: Bill Witte, THE RELATED COMPANIES
Co-Chair: Paul Rohrer, MUNGER TOLLES & OLSON
Meets: As Needed, 8:00 AM, CCA Conference Room

By invitation only. The Housing Production Committee sets CCA's proactive housing agenda. It is tasked with examining citywide housing strategies, working with local officials to promote policies that build housing without disincentivizing investment, and contributing to CCA's housing policy white papers. The Committee works closely with the Housing, Land Use & Development Committee to advocate against proposals that make it more difficult to develop in Los Angeles, while supporting policies that streamline L.A.'s convoluted development process and incentivize housing construction.

This committee consists of local service providers and key Downtown business stakeholders and is focused on improving the quality of life in Downtown Los Angeles by enhancing public safety and public health for all those who live, work or visit Downtown.  Works closely with the L.A. City Attorney’s office, the LAPD, LAFD, and local, State, and Federal elected officials to identify and implement practical policies that will reduce homelessness and alleviate human suffering across the Los Angeles region.   

• Leads the Los Angeles business community on tackling the regional issue of homelessness in Los Angeles County
• Works closely with state and local legislators to develop, introduce, and implement specific strategies aimed at reversing the policies that have conspired to create the nation’s largest homeless population on the streets of Downtown Los Angeles. 
• Provides an important forum for open and constructive dialogue between diverse stakeholders – elected officials, business, law enforcement, and social service providers -- on a critical area of common interest and concern
• Lobbies for fair and proportionate funding for mental health services for Los Angeles County under 2004’s Proposition 63
• Specifically focuses on preventing policies that institutionalize encampments in Downtown Los Angeles
  

TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Chair:  David Wright, PLAINS ALL AMERICAN PIPELINE, L.P.
Vice Chair:  Michael Kelly, THE BOEING COMPANY
Meets: As Needed, 8:00 am, CCA Conference Room

As mobility is a key element to the success of Los Angeles, this committee reviews and recommends major transportation programs/policies, public infrastructure projects and transit systems, as well as works closely with City and County officials on key parking initiatives that will have a significant impact on the City of Los Angeles. These projects include the Metro Exposition Light Rail, resurrection of the Red Car Trolley, LAX enhancements and Downtown parking strategies. In addition, the committee works with other committees on developments that support the principles of transit-oriented development and the creation of pedestrian-friendly communities.

• Takes positions on regional transportation initiatives
• Works to promote transit-oriented development that will leverage and enhance Downtown’s unique position as the transportation hub of the Los Angeles region
• Acts as a forum by organizing stakeholder input on existing and proposed transportation policies that affect Downtown and Los Angeles
• Reviews projects presented to committee members by representatives from LADOT, LAX, Metrolink, MTA, Caltrans, Department of Public Works, Alameda Corridor, High Speed Rail and other transportation related agencies
• Meets with MTA and LADOT officials to implement circulation and parking priorities for Downtown
  

URBAN DESIGN: THE ART OF MAKING A CITY
Co-Chair: Paul Danna, DMJM
Co- Chair: Peter Devereaux, HARLEY ELLIS DEVEREAUX
Meets: Third Friday, As Needed, 8:00 AM, CCA Conference Room

This committee is focused on shaping the look and feel of Downtown’s landscape as it is transformed by major new developments.  Because various government entities do not always communicate with each other on their respective plans, the Urban Design committee is particularly valuable in helping promote a unified vision for the future of Downtown.

• Works to ensure that new projects fit within a larger, more comprehensive vision for Downtown’s future
• Promotes the integration of street, sidewalk, building design, open space, pedestrian connections and mobility
• Works toward creating Downtown’s new “look and feel”
• Embraces “Smart Growth” principles that build on Downtown’s unique design and enhance a pedestrian-friendly experience that encourages people to live closer to Downtown’s nearly 500,000 public and private sector jobs

Back to top