About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

B-202975 1 (1981-11-03)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacsrg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES WASHINGTON D.C. 20548 B-202975 November 3, 1981 The Honorable Bobbi Fiedler -N House of Representatives at Dear Ms. Fiedler: We refer to your letters of April 15, and May 19, 1981, requesting this Office to determine whether the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and the Los Angeles Downtown People Mover Authority (DPMA), which are recipients of Federal grant funds, have expended any of these funds in violation of an appropriation restriction prohibiting their use for lobbying activities. You also asked us to investigate whether CRA or DPMA had used Federal funds to retain the services of law firms for the purpose of engaging in efforts to influence appropriation measures and other legislation pending before the Congress. Our review of the accounts of these recipients disclosed no violation of Federal statutes in the retaining of the law firms. However, DPMA apparentfy used Federal grant funds in violation of an appropriation act restriction to prepare and disseminate a newsletter encouraging readers to write their Congressmen and Senators in support of a continuation of Federal funding for the Los Angeles People Mover project. Community Redevelopment Agency The CRA was established by the City of Los Angeles to revitalize parts of the city. It is governed by a Board of Commissioners appointed by the Mayor andsconfirmed by the City Council. Its primary source of funding stems from a real property tax increment that represents the difference between current property taxes and the property taxes that were in effect when parcels were designated for tedevelopment several years ago. Other funding comes from grants from local, state and Federal governments. Federal funding is derived from grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Urban Mass Transit Administration of the Depart- ment of Transportation. Shortly after the Reagan Administration came to power, it became apparent from media reports that continued Federal funding for the down- town people mover was in jeopardy. CRA's plan to rebuild the downtown portion of the City was in part based on DPMA completing the people mover as originally scheduled. Fearing that the program might be canceled, CRA officials, with its Board's approval, decided to retain the services of a law firm. On April 23, 1981, a contract in the amount of $18,000 was let with the firm of Manatt, Phelps, Rothenberg and Tunney for General Financial Planning with the purpose of determining alternative financing arrangements for the people mover if the Federal Government ceased to fund the project.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most