The vote to schedule hearings on the agency was brought about after the agency was criticized for denying a nonprofit organization's bid to rehabilitate a South of Market residential hotel. Supporters of the Plaza Hotel project on Sixth and Market Streets approached the supervisors, requesting that they step in.

Redevelopment Commissioner Mark Dunlop spoke in favor of the vote because "there's something wrong with the system." However, P.J. Johnston, a spokesman for the mayor, says that any change in the way the commission is run would be opposed by the administration. He says that the agency has many success stories, including the Sony Metreon project and the Mission Bay development.

The Redevelopment Agency was created some 50 years ago by the Board of Supervisors under the state's Community Redevelopment Law. It is a separate legal entity but works closely with city agencies to improve underdeveloped or blighted areas, including the Yerba Buena Center and Hunters Point. The Board of Supervisors chooses these areas.