Do you know what a Redevelopment Agency is California? [View all]

[SHRED]

You should.


California’s Secret Government
Redevelopment agencies blight the Golden State.

Governor Jerry Brown wants to eliminate redevelopment agencies and save the state about $1.7 billion annually, with greater savings possible down the road, when debts are retired.
In Sacramento, Governor Jerry Brown is planning to close California’s $26.6 billion structural deficit through spending cuts and tax extensions. Opposition has been spirited but less contentious than expected, probably because of the size of the budget hole. But one item of Brown’s plan—something that would save about $1.7 billion annually—has generated heated debates between local officials and the new administration. The governor has proposed eliminating California’s approximately 400 redevelopment agencies (RDAs).

In theory, RDAs spearhead blight removal. In fact, they divert billions of dollars from traditional services, such as schools, parks, and firefighting; use eminent domain to seize property for favored developers; and run up California’s debt to pay those developers to construct projects of dubious public value, such as stadiums and big-box stores. Most Californians have long been unaware that these agencies exist. As the activist group Municipal Officials for Redevelopment Reform puts it, RDAs constitute an “unknown government” that “consumes 12 percent of all property taxes statewide,” is “supported by a powerful Sacramento lobby,” and is “backed by an army of lawyers, consultants, bond brokers and land developers.”

http://www.city-journal.org/2011/21_2_california-redevelopment-agencies.html

http://www.stopthemoneypit.com/


I offer this as an alternative to the constant drumbeat against public worker retirement systems.
Going after people is what Republicans do.
Going after fat cat corporate cronyism is what Democrats do.


---