Reform Act Applied to Renewal Panels

The state Fair Political Practices Commission on Tuesday agreed, on a 5-0 vote, that project area committees in redevelopment agencies must conform with provisions of the state’s Political Reform Act. Commission spokeswoman Sandra Michioku said the commission instructed its staff to draft the opinion in legal form and return it for final action.

The opinion, which would reverse a position taken by the commission a decade ago, arose from a dispute involving the Hollywood Project Area Committee, in which representatives of a citizens’ group alleged violation of the Political Reform Act, fraud and destruction of public records. The Hollywood committee is responsible for one of the areas in the recently approved $922-million, 30-year effort to refurbish 1,100 acres in the Los Angeles area.