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Lawmakers took their first bite out of Gov. Jerry Brown's budget Wednesday, cutting about $7.4 billion across state government and clearing a significant share of the $26.6 billion deficit. But Democratic leaders, and Brown in particular, spent much of the day behind closed doors in an unsuccessful effort to persuade reticent legislators to eliminate roughly 400 agencies that fund redevelopment projects and save the state another $1.7 billion. Cities have mounted a fierce campaign to block the proposal, fearful of losing control over billions of dollars that would flow to schools, counties and public safety instead of civic projects. Democrats...

Why are so many people who are opposed to development nevertheless in favor of "redevelopment"? The short answer is that development involves decisions made in the market by large numbers of people in the general population, in their own personal interests, while redevelopment involves taking decisions out of the hands of the population at large and putting the power to make those decisions in the hands of elites. Developers who build housing to sell to the public are the focus of many denunciations by elites in places like coastal California. But developers would not even exist if there were...

Local redevelopment agencies have pushed through nearly $690 million in bonds sales during the first two months of this year -- that's more than half of the $1.2 billion in debt those agencies took on in all of 2010, according to figures the state treasurer's office compiled. Furthermore, given the shaky market, local governments are borrowing money at high rates -- increasing the amount of property tax revenue that will go to lenders, said Tom Dresslar, a treasury department spokesman. "They're flooding the market with these bonds at a time when the market sucks from an issuer's perspective," Dresslar said....

Local government leaders across California are hurriedly shifting redevelopment agency properties and money into city coffers ahead of a possible state move to abolish redevelopment and redistribute unspent funds. It's unclear if such maneuvers will work. Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget also contains language allowing some of the transfers to be reversed or at the least wind up in court. "This is going to be lawyers' delight," said John Shirey, executive director of the California Redevelopment Association. Among the moves this week: • Sacramento city officials approved the transfer of $1.4 million in redevelopment money to the city for a...

The state controller has completed a review of 18 California redevelopment agencies and concluded their "lack of accountability and transparency is a breeding ground for waste, abuse and impropriety." Controller John Chiang has determined that, for an activity consuming "more than $5.5 billion of public resources annually, we should be troubled that there are no objective performance measures demonstrating that taxpayers are receiving optimal return for each invested dollar." The review ticked off agency shortcomings, failures and questionable activities, including ...

In a purely political sense, Gov. Jerry Brown wants to eliminate local redevelopment agencies and shift much of their tax money to other services for the same reason that legendary bandit Willie Sutton reputedly robbed banks – "because that's where the money is." Brown wants to recapture a third of the $5 billion-plus that more than 400 redevelopment agencies skim off the top of the property tax pot each year. He also wants to eliminate local "enterprise zones" and their tax breaks, and tap into a special fund, financed by surtaxes on high-income taxpayers, that pays for mental health services,...

When Gov. Jerry Brown proposed to eliminate more than 400 local redevelopment agencies and redirect their property taxes into schools and other local governments, he ignited what's shaping up to be a very sharp political firefight. The billions of dollars at stake are motivating the redevelopment industry – that's a very appropriate term in this case – to deploy heavy political artillery as critics mount their assault. For years, the latter have contended that redevelopment agencies skim billion of dollars in property taxes that would be better spent elsewhere while arrogantly seizing land from private owners, blithely shoveling money into...

GOP Assemblyman Chris Norby is a former Orange County supervisor with a longtime and deep aversion to California's 425 redevelopment agencies. Some redevelopment zones might eliminate blight and provide low-income housing as originally intended, he concedes, but redevelopment also allows billions of tax dollars to bankroll the building of a lot of half-empty shopping malls as well as sweetheart deals that pad the pockets of well-connected developers. As Norby put it, redevelopment has served as an "unknown government" that feeds "the most wasteful, the most fraudulent, and the most abusive" spending in California government. When Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown was...

Gov. Jerry Brown defended his controversial plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies in California, speaking at an event hosted by one of the biggest supporters of the agencies and telling them his plan is what's best for the state. Afterward, Brown told reporters that some of the more than $1.5 billion of redevelopment projects approved by cities in recent days - essentially an end run around his proposal - may not be legal.At a gathering for new mayors and council members hosted by the League of California Cities, which has been one of the most vocal opponents of Brown's plan, the...

Cities and counties across California are putting more than $1 billion in redevelopment projects on the fast track in an apparent attempt to beat Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies. At least three cities – Los Angeles, Fremont, and Citrus Heights – approved projects in special meetings Friday and Monday, the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. Los Angeles approved $930 million in projects, while Fremont signed off on up to $140 million in work, and Citrus Heights authorized about $60 million for redevelopment. Riverside County expects to discuss $155 million in redevelopment projects today. Redevelopment advocates said...

In a time of shrinking government revenues and service cutbacks, a growing number of critics — now led by Gov. Jerry Brown — are questioning whether divvying up tax revenue makes sense. Brown asked the Legislature last week to dissolve all of the state’s 425 redevelopment agencies, saying the taxes they divert force the state to spend $1.8 billion a year on schools that would otherwise come from property taxes. “We’re spending money at the local level that the state doesn’t have,” Brown said. Under his proposal, the money would go to “core services” such as education, law enforcement and...

The old All Star Dodge dealership in Banning looked to be just another ghost of business past in a town hit hard by a sour economy. But that didn't keep the city's redevelopment agency from paying top dollar for it — and then some. Without an independent appraisal, agency board members, who double as the City Council, shelled out $1.2 million for the vacant property in July 2009. It still sits empty. "Everything about that deal stinks," said Philipp Goebels, editor of The Banning Informer website, which devotes much of its attention to the city's "redevelopment disasters." A Riverside County...

Woman Sets Self On Fire To Protest Demolition Of Home by Fauna on November 30, 2009 From Mop: A female entrepreneur in Chengdu sets herself on fire on the roof of her building because of demolition Summary: November 13, early morning, a horrific “eviction and demolition” incident occurred on Tianhuizhen street in Jingniu district of Chengdu city. The female owner tried to use death to fight the go-vern-ment organized demolition crew, eventually “self-immolating” on the building’s roof, burnt beyond recognition, her life hanging by a thread. Whether it is residents being arrested, residents being hurt and hospitalized, the go-vern-ment department...

"grand jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within" Islamic Society of Boston Mosque Madness Update. "Texas Terrorism Trial Ties Boston mosque leaders to Extremist Network," from Citizens for Peace and Tolerance (thanks to Jerry): Dennis Hale, President of Citizens for Peace and Tolerance, called today for a public investigation of the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s sale of land to the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) for the construction of New England ’s largest mosque. Hale noted that officers of the largest Muslim charity in America , The Holy Land Foundation (HLF), convicted in Texas last week of funding Middle...

Times Square is crammed with tourists, and not just for New Year's Eve. These days, they're eager to gawk at the glittering lights of Broadway and visit attractions like Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and the MTV studios. But 15 years ago, the place was considered a cesspool, overrun with crime and home to sex shops and peep shows. Drug addicts shot up on the street. Locals avoided the neighborhood. The man who has taken the credit for revitalizing Times Square is GOP presidential hopeful and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He has made Times Square a symbol for how he tamed...

09/29/2006   GAAS:706:06   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Protect Private Property Rights Gov. Schwarzenegger signed legislation today that protects the rights of private property owners.   “Government must respect the private property rights of our citizens,” said Gov. Schwarzenegger. “I am proud to sign legislation to further enhance the protection of property rights of Californians.”   Specifically, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed the following five bills:   SB 53 by Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) requires an agency to make additional findings of blight if the agency wishes to extend the time limits on its authorization for eminent-domain actions. This bill would...

Where Wichita's housing director Mary Kay Vaughn sees a chance to rebuild faltering neighborhoods, some property rights advocates see an opening for big government to snatch away people's homes. Early discussions about creating a redevelopment authority in Wichita have sparked polarized opinions. The Wichita City Council is considering setting up a five-member redevelopment authority that could acquire rundown properties and turn them over to developers who want to renovate them or build new houses, apartments or businesses in their place. The authority would get the properties by buying them from willing sellers, buying tax-foreclosed properties, or forcing unwilling property owners...

Investigators from a federal watchdog agency are coming to Los Angeles to meet with a group of business owners who allege that the city redevelopment agency has abused its eminent domain powers by forcing out their thriving enterprises to make way for other businesses. Robert Blue, the owner of Bernard Luggage Co. in Hollywood, said Tuesday that he was approached by a representative of the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan investigative and research arm of Congress, which is studying eminent domain practices nationwide. The local business owners said they planned to highlight at least three examples of what they considered...

With every developer West of the Mississippi drooling over the chance to develop some 1/4 acre of the Concord Naval Weapons Station, it seems every politician and city planner worth their salt is now talking about “affordable housing.” But what is “affordable housing” in California?Since normal people know that “affordable housing” doesn’t really exist in the regions of California where normal people really want to live, what is it that big-government, pro-redevelopment politcos really mean when they yap on and on about “affordable housing” this campaign season?Two words: Subsidized Housing.When you look at it, most everything about housing in California...

In some countries the use of eminent domain can be a life or death issue. Last June, in the small village of Shengyou, China, six people were killed and 50 injured in a bloody clash between farmers and hundreds of armed thugs sent by government operatives to seize their land. This was just one of thousands of disputes over land appropriation that take place each year in China Fueling these conflicts is the ambiguous nature of property ownership in China. The rights of farmers who hold land collectively are not made clear under Chinese law. Although farmers can acquire property...