Redevelopment. Yes or No?
The Gov has proposed axing Redevelopment in California and redirecting its revenue back to local municipalities and school districts. Of course the Redevelopment camp followers are squealing like stuck pigs.
Today the Register entertained two essays on whether or not to keep Redevelopment. On the no side was Assemblyman Chris Norby who wrote a pretty comprehensive obituary for this misguided government revenue scam. On the pro side? Some unknown stooge from Brea – one of the most heavily Redevelopment bond indebted municipalities in California, and a poster child for Redevelopment havoc and abuse.
Did the blind pig find his acorn?
This is that one acorn. It’s a good one though.
No.
“The Public Policy Institute’s study “Subsidizing Redevelopment in California” compared 114 different redevelopment project areas statewide to similar areas without redevelopment. It concluded that redevelopment agencies were not responsible for any net economic growth and that they were being financed at the expense of local schools and public services. Access the publication for yourself at PPIC.org”
Norby eloquently sums up the damage that results when government oversteps its boundaries and enters private enterprise. Nixon shoved amtrak down the throat of tax payers because he thought it would resolve US dependence on foreign oil via gasoline for cars. the government sponsored enterprise amtrak tries to run the trains on time and always runs a deficit for government(us). Thanks to FFFF, the nefarious RDA and its supporters Keller, Jones,Bankhead are exposed for their destruction of our city’s infrastructure to fund the recoupment of the moldering fox theatre’s glory days because this will benefit our town by ? The fox theatre is a glaring example that is replicated on a bigger and smaller scale throughout our town and it benefits whom?
I just took a trip on Amtrak and had a great time of it. The trains were on time and the service was just fine. Maybe we ought to start charging tickets to use the freeways and see how well they pay for themselves.
Federally subsidized Amtrak is sucking the life out of my wallet (along with other useless “programs”). As an engineer for Amtrak just reminded me, they have NEVER turned a profit.
@Matt, we do. In fact everytime you put fuel in your car you pay a federal tax and a state tax or as you would like to call it a ticket. Those taxes are suppose to be used by law for our roads. The funds never seem to make it.
Redevelopment is part of the problem. It takes money from roads, schools, fire protection and other essential services.
It’s not about Amtrak it’s about the government trying to get involved where it shouldn’t. Like the USPS it’s charter says it is not allowed to make a profit, what company could ever operate that way?
I seriously doubt the gas tax’s I or anyone else pays come close to the real cost of maintaining the interstate freeway system let alone the the local road system, with or with out the redevelopment ripoff. Let’s face it, gas was probably under a dollar the last time the taxes were adjusted, but prices sure haven’t stayed the same. The government has always subsided roads from the beginning to now. You could say the government has been shoving single car, single person, highly inefficient mode of transportation down our throats for years. And running it a deficit too.
However I agree with you about Redevelopment.
Roads used to be maintained by the property owner who would charge a toll for passage. It wasn’t until the mid to later 1800s that you saw any public roads come to fruition that linked cities.
The transcontinental RR saw the first big federal land grab just so they could give it to a private developer. You could say redevelopment has been alive and well for more than a hundred years.
I am becoming a fan of toll roads; at least you get what you pay for…
Ah yes the big land grab & cash grab of the transcontinental RR, something Mr. Huntington was so proud of he burnt every scrape of paper related to it rather then face a senate hearing at the time. But at least we got a nice museum out of it. Redevelopment in action.
Yeah, government should have no part in postal systems. Somebody tell the world.
It’s time for major changes to Redevelopment law. If the agencies aren’t dissolved, they should be made to follow stricter rules about how funds can be spent. We also need stricter enforcement of laws governing the establishment of RDA zones–no more phony blight!
Good ol’ Chris Norby, always looking out for what’s in the best interest of the people of the state of California. Hooray!
I understand he’s even doing his own personal investigation into the homeless problem.
Does his altruism and excellent character know no bounds??????
And the freeways have turned a profit? We’ll never no because there is no fee charged per use. If you think toll roads are the answer I suggest you take a look at how the deer killer in south county is doing financially. And don’t forget to figure in the health care costs incurred by air pollution related chronic illness.
“Deer killer”!!! That’s rich!
SHUT IT DOWN.
At the very least Governor Brown should place a three year moritorium on ANY redevelopment projects.
Why do the municipalities all of a sudden feel they have no responsibility in this crisis.
It is a crisis. Thanks largely to Californians who voted for, supported what they should have known was flawed ARNOLD.
Thank Goodness Meg Whitman was shut down!
Yeah but Big Meg made a lot of campaign whores rich along the way.
If it weren’t for redevelopment downtown Fullerton would still be a fetid dump instead of the entertainment destination it is today. If it weren’t for redevelopment, Brea’s downtown would still be a dirt lot and home to a shabby movie theater.
I would hardly call a bunch of bars with drunk college kids running around puking, fighting and looking to get laid an entertainment destination.
What? I find that highly entertaining.
Oh really? Says who?
Mango is a fruit… add some nuts and you have a bona fide fruitcake.
No, Mango is an economic fascist. Redevelopment is National Socialism.
Government directed economic ‘development,” government directed ethnic cleansing. You make a good point Dr. G.
You forgot government directing revenue to corporate pals, cronies, yes-men, etc. Oh, really, the similarities are numerous.
Okay, so let’s return downtown to its previous state which was abandoned warehouses, crumbling buildings, bums and whinos, and Heroes as the only place to get a drink and something to eat. Downtown Fullerton back then sucked, plain and simple. It was an eyesore, provided absolutely no jobs to anyone in the community and was a drag on the city as a whole. I think some of you simply have too much free time on your hands or you’re not happy unless you have something to complain about.
It is still an eyesore full of bums and winos. You have not been paying attention. Downtown Fullerton is a 1.5 million drag on the General Fund every year.
It sucks and so do you.
Well I don’t know what downtown you remember, but I used to go down there years ago eat at Steeles Cafe, go take my music lessons at Fullerton Music, and then hit the pawnshops for LP’s (something you may not remember obviously.) Now what have you got? Hair salons & bars, and tattoo parlors. Not only that you got them taking over the sidewalks, shooting some kind of alien light into the air all night, and the city giving them money to do it on top of it all. The only saving grace is the occasional live music. Shit, I would rather see a gas lamp district kind of thing than what we have. Utter pap is what it is.
Mango: DTF is a cesspool from 10PM until the puke, piss, and condoms are cleaned up the following day. The PD and FD spend a significant amount of their time there breaking up fights, responding to rapes and assaults, reports of theft and vandalism. As Fullerton Rudy notes, DTF is a drain on our most expensive services.
DTF has improved over what it was in the 1980s but that marginal success does not translate into meaningful success.
You might be exaggerating a little bit there. I’ve seen more used condoms in the elementary school parking lot near my house than I have in DTF.
If you don’t like DTF after 10 pm, why do you go there?
I don’t go there often after 8PM. I go a couple times a year to see if it is still a mess. It is.
the good ole days of fullerton where the melody inn with its cracked linoleum beckoned to the public who had just stumbled out the bar called my shrink, where fullerton’s old guard of orchard owners trotted off to disciples of christ church and then over to the pillowry to buy fabric and possible wander into roy’s photo shop to develop a role of film. ah, the good ole days where incredibly bored fullertonions yearned for a place to live in L.A.
Wow, the extent to which you folks exaggerate really shows how old and out of touch you are. I bet you old timers just can’t stand loud music anymore and your acid reflux and loose stools prevents you from eating dinner any later than 5 p.m. The last time I took my family to DTF we didn’t have to step over any whinos or puke or used scum bags. And your assertion that the City loses money on DTF to the tune of $1.5 million is absurd. So stop exaggerating what DTF is, was, should be or can be.
I’m sure all you old timers pine for a return to what DTF used to be when you were kids in the 50’s, but those days are long gone and a new day is here. The new and improved DTF has made the most boring and culturally vacant town in Orange County a destination. If the rest of you crochety old grumps don’t like what DTF or the rest of Fullerton for that matter has become then hit the skids and move to Palm Springs or the assisted living center already,
Mango it’s not an age issue (I’m 24). It’s an issue of master planning and revenue diversion. And a total lack of faith in free enterprise and economic cycles. You are obviously some sort of socialist, National or otherwise.
You probably aren’t aware of it, but redevelopment in Fullerton is 36 years old! At least 12 years older than me! And look what we have to show for ALMOST 40 YEARS of it. A bunch of marginal restaurants that turn into drunken dance parties after 10 pm, and some low-rent art galleries and hair salons. It’s nothing like a real downtown. A joke, in fact.
Oh, and about loud music: amplified, outdoor music is illegal.
Half of redevelopment goes to try to fix problems caused by the other half.
Fred, I really like your style. How about writing for us?
“And your assertion that the City loses money on DTF to the tune of $1.5 million is absurd.”
So, are you calling the City Manager and the cops liars?
No more Hero burgers for you? Or are you frying them up in the first place!