Renaissance Woman

Carol Schatz

Carol Schatz is President and CEO of both the CCA and the DCBID

By Jennifer Hadley

I’m early for my four o'clock meeting with Carol Schatz. I’m always early, but I’m extra early for this one because earning a chunk of her time isn’t an easy feat.

Carol Schatz is a busy lady; we’ve already pushed the meeting back an hour and her assistant Shawn tells me she’s running a bit late.

I’ve got an half hour to kill in the waiting room of the Downtown Center Business Improvement District/ Central City Association – Schatz’ lair. Although I know full well I’m about to meet one of the “100 Most Powerful People in Los Angeles,” (and more specifically one of the top ten business leaders in L.A) there is nothing about the office that leads me to think Schatz has an ego. Instead, the office conveys a love for Downtown Los Angeles (a crush I admit, I have yet to develop).

At eleven minutes past four (which is hardly late by L.A standards), I’m led to Schatz’ inner sanctuary. It’s here that I see just how much influence Schatz has in this city. There are photographs of her with the mayor, the governor, and countless other people I don’t recognize (they’re all in suits, so I just assume they’re important).

Suffice to say, I’m getting a little more intimidated about meeting Schatz than I had planned, so when she comes in, the intimidation only grows. She’s perfectly coiffed in a magenta and navy hounds-tooth wool jacket and slacks. She looks like an attorney, which makes sense since Schatz is an attorney (she received her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School).

In contrast, I’m in a t-shirt (that I’ve gussied up with a blazer from Urban Outfitters), jeans, and ballet flats. I feel underdressed, but Schatz doesn’t seem to notice. Instead she apologizes for being late, muttering something about having been caught in a budgeting meeting. She sits down with me.

Determined to show her I’ve done my homework, I quickly rattle off all of the many accomplishments to her credit. She’s been the Deputy Regional Director of the Western Region of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation. She’s the first woman to serve as the CEO of the CCA since its inception in 1924. She launched the DCBID in 1998. She’s been named “Woman of the Year” for her dedication to California. And she’s a mother.

Schatz is nonplussed. She looks neither proud of herself nor self righteous. She looks instead, humble. I begin the interview by asking her if it’s hard to live up to the reputation she’s built for herself (nothing short of a renaissance woman) and find her reply to be equally gracious.

“No, I think it’s that I’m I hopeful, that's what it is. It's recognition for doing something with a lot of help from friends, which has been extraordinarily important for the city as a whole. What I like to say is that you cannot be a great city if you’re defined by two theme parks, a beach, and a sign. And that’s how we have been defined.”

Although Schatz was already working a full time job as the CEO of the CCA, she still believed that more was needed to be done to revitalize downtown. So in 1996, she decided to launch the Downtown Central Business Improvement District.

She explains, “You can’t bring investors to an area; you cannot convince people to be here for any reason if they perceive it to be unsafe or unclean. That is the core function of all of the Downtown BIDs: to clean up the neighborhoods that they represent.” But just how safe is it?

I ask Carol frankly, “If you were me, would you feel safe walking alone by yourself at night?” She ponders the question for just a moment before replying honestly, “I think so, yes.” But she does concede that there can never be too many law enforcement officers patrolling Downtown for her liking. Still, there’s no doubt that the work and service that the Downtown BIDs have provided have certainly became one of the pillars of the future success of Downtown.

When Schatz goes on to explain that over five years, the collective budget of the Downtown BIDs is roughly $90 Million (all of which goes back into the neighborhoods they represent), I can’t help but notice again her humble nature in making sure that her peers, colleagues, and friends in other BIDs are recognized.

But it would take a lot more than just BIDs to revitalize a downtown that had become a place where people worked, but few lived and even fewer played. Enter what the DCBID calls its “Catalytic Projects” and things began to change rapidly. “We believe that this Downtown renaissance really began in 1999 with the opening of the Staples Center,” Schatz says. This landmark event was followed soon by the opening of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (2002) and the opening of the Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003), among other Catalytic Projects. Together, “the three of these venues really turned the lights on Downtown.” A second pillar was in place.

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