Quick, Hide Your Assets!
Tuesday night’s city council meeting includes an agenda item asking the council to approve transferring all assets owned by the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency to the City of Fullerton. Agenda item number 12 asks the city to take ownership of a soup to nuts inventory of everything the Redevelopment Agency has been using our bond money to buy for the last few decades.
In an urgent sounding letter to the council Acting Redevelopment Director Romona Castaneda explains that the council may only have a few weeks to move these assets from one pocket to the other if the state adopts Gov. Brown’s budget plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies. If this happens, it seems, the agency will be forced to sell the properties “expeditiously” and turn over the proceeds to the county.
One has to wonder what would happen if Redevelopment was indeed forced to sell all eighty of its properties, including the Fox Theater, the empty lot where four craftsmen era houses were torn down just east of it, Union Pacific Park, the site of Costco, a 2001 Chevrolet Malibu (?), the Santa Fe Depot, and some fencing around the Police Department. It’s a fun list.
The city would still be required to move forward with projects already approved for these properties, including affordable housing projects. Anybody have a guess about how legal this maneuver is?
Dibs on the Malibu.
I bet Jerry Brown’s lawyers are on to this scam. It’s pointless. The state gets what it wants.
I only wish Whitaker wasn’t alone on the council!
What is the monetary value of the assets to be transferred? I would like an appraisal, please.
Wait, what happened to the housing authority that they cooked up last week?
Is there a legal opinion that goes with this agenda item? I don’t see it.
This is NOT a Public Hearing?
Someone go read Prop. 22 that was passed to prevent the state from taking city/special district money for state uses. The independent legislative analyst told a senate hearing last week that becaus of the working of Prop 22 that it was their opinion the state could not take redevelopment money.
The cities are running around like chicken little. “The Sky is Falling”
The redevelopment lobby certainly thought so. They were big boosters of Prop 22.
Not working – wording
Wouldn’t Prop. 22 also prevent Fullerton from raising the water franchise fee without a vote from the people?
I think that would relate to Prop. 26.
No. Prop. 22 only protected cities and special districts from the state. I think it was prop 18 that was passed a number of years that covers tax increases.
You’re thinking of Prop 218.
Plain and simple, the “water franchise fee” is a tax.
My favorite quote of the night (besides the dino-ramblings) was when Romona responded to the question AREN’T MANY OF THESE PROPERTIES VESTED IN THE CITY? Romona responded with WE JUST NEVER GOT AROUND TO IT.
Has anyone seen the updated list mentioned by the Redevelopment staff?
I sent the updated list to admin this morning. He can post it.
Here is the updated list.
http://www.fullertonsfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/3-2-11-Redev.-Agency-List-of-Properties.pdf
“SW corner of N. Malden Ave./W. Whiting”. Isn’t that sn ok’d craftsman house?
So the WiFi that covers the Library and Downtown are property of the redevelopment agency?
My firm made an offer to the City last year to take over the management and maintenance of the system, and the back end data connection. For a paltry sum of $0. This would have freed up personnel from managing it, the monthly $950 for the leased line, and for the personnel to maintain it.
They never responded to the offers.
Forgot to mention, our HQ office is about 200 yards from the Police station.
So, are they still trying to hire a Redevelopment Director if they think the agency is going to be dissolved by the state?