TMC: Thirty Miles of Corruption

As if they were testing their parents, as children do, the state said no more, enough is enough, and slammed it’s iron fist of authority over municipalities.  Cities cannot become rogue entities and become microcosms of self proclaimed commonwealths, they must still answer to a higher source, as the state has indicated.  California Supreme Court judge ruled this morning that Assembly Bill 1X 26 to abolish redevelopment angencies is legal!   Assembly Bill 1X 27, the measure conditioning further redevelopment agency operations on additional payments by an agency’s community sponsors to state funds benefiting schools and special districts, also abolished.   This is based on Proposition 22 (specifically Cal. Const., art. XIII, § 25.5,subd. (a)(7)) which expressly forbids the Legislature from requiring such payments.   According to the L.A. Times the state acted legally when it abolished more than 400 redevelopment agencies to close a budget gap.  The State acted legally.  Therfore, the state has the right to legislate and remove legislation as it sees beneficial to the citizens of the state.  Assemblyman Chris Norby, R-Fullerton, said the agencies long ago outlived their usefulness and should be shut down, particularly as the state confronts a $25.4 billion budget gap.  The cities lobbying groups, The California Redevelopment Association and The League of California Cities sought a writ relief arguing that each measure was unconstitutional.  Well ok..  You have to wonder why these city lobbying groups, who represent cities, are going to the costly legal expense of fighting so hard, for taxpayer monies for a city’s redevelopment plans.  Well, then, are they really looking at the best interest of the taxpayer in the long run?  ..or in reality, only for those they actually represent?  and in addition, do they actually contribute to the abuse by showing cities how to fully take advantage of redevelopment, against the best interest of the taxpayer?  In our opinion, these lobbying groups are in no way friends of the taxpayer.  According to the California Legislative Analyst Office back in February 16, 2011 came to the conclusion that there was significant policy shortcomings of the California Redevelopment Program.  They made mention that documents released by the California Redevelopment Association (CRA), a lobbying group for the cities, were seriously flawed.  This was in reference to claims made by the CRA that 304,000 jobs would be lost if redevelopment agencies were eliminated.

READ FULL VERSION OF THE SUPREME COURT RULING BY CLICKING THIS LINK!

According to the L.A. Times the state acted legally when it abolished more than 400 redevelopment agencies to close a budget gap.  The cities lobbying groups, The California Redevelopment Association and The League of California Cities sought a writ relief arguing that each measure was unconstitutional.  Dan Berstein’s of the Press Enterprise had much to say about Redevelopment in the City of Riverside.

But it has scarred and scraped communities. It has put people out of business by ripping down buildings and not replacing them, or evicting businesses — the “private sector” — and filling the void with nothing.

Redevelopment is a mixed bag, not a money bag. But that’s not how its champions see it. They see an entitlement program and they’re hooked on it.  Tax increment is their heroin. No wonder they went to court.    -Dan Berstein, Press Enterprise

Hopefully Dan won’t be warned with a SLAPP suit by unknown entities within the City as TMC, for stating an opinion.  But even the City of Riverside pushed the envelope of their contempt by calling the states actions a form of “ransom”, as indicated in their July 27, 2011 news release, or even as a form of “theft”, as indicated in this June 16, 2011 release.  I wonder if they are on the State’s list of potential SLAPP suit candidates?

CLICK THE IMAGES TO READ THE WHOLE NEWS RELEASE

All you have to do is walk Downtown Riverside and see what your $1.8 billion has attained for the taxpayer.  What does our city’s favorite son, former city manager Brad Hudson have to say about this?  What did he know? and did he leave town just in time?  Will the city now try to sneak a new ballot initiative for the citizens of riverside to pay the bill for their bad business decisions and indiscretions?  Get ready for higher property taxes.  Just by the fact of shutting 400 angencies throughout the State of California, state officials already estimated that the new laws would generate $1.7 billion this fiscal year, the City of Riverside has already spent $1.8 billion alone on redevelopment projects… in the middle of this, where are the obligatory affordable housing projects?  They weren’t found in the Raincross Promenade… What are ex and fired city employees saying about the cities redevelopment program?  Where does the City of Riverside go from here?

“For far too long, California taxpayers have financed obscure government agencies that use taxpayer dollars and their power of eminent domain to benefit politically connected developers,” said Marko Mlikotin, alliance president

Thursday morning Riverside City Officials converged for an emergency meeting regards to the effects of the new Supreme Court rulings.  I would have loved to be a “fly” on the wall on that one.  Keeping in mind, the redevelopment agency and the city are two different entities which are unrelated.  Mayor Ron Loveridge said the meeting was to discuss a potential $5 million shortfall, which the new ruling would place in the city’s general fund budget.  Therefore, some projects would not get done, such as the new shopping plaza in the Five Points area and a long-planned multi-modal transit center.  Some months back, TMC reported comingling of the general fund with redevelopment money, and a $5 million dollar oversight.  Questions were being raised regarding the movement of state monies to the city’s general fund, otherwise known as an inter-agency transfer.  As far as we understand, state agency monies cannot be transferred to the city’s general fund, monies are to remain in seperate accounts.  The question still remains unanswered.   Mayor Ron Loveridge called it “the worst possible outcome for cities.”  Which is true, since the taxpayer will be the one responsible for the bill.  

He went on to say, “Redevelopment’s been our primary way which we’ve created jobs and worked on economic development projects, and now that tool is taken away.”  Let me think about this, the primary way we create jobs, according to the mayor, is through taxpayer raised monies?  I always believed as many,  it is in the private sector.  And that the success of a business is dependent on what they produce in terms of products or services, or both.  This creates demand, demand then creates value. This in turn creates the encentive for the business to expand, hire more people, in turn, creating jobs.  Funding jobs through tax payer money does not constitute real jobs in a free market.  The idealism of Keynesian economics does not work in this instance, or has it worked in any instance in history.  In a capitalist form of government, what would give the impression and perception that government knows best, and this can be the “norm.”  It goes against all that this country was originally based on.  But the practice and its illusion continues.

UNKNOWINGLY PUSHING THE ENVELOPE, KEEP CONNECTED WITH TMC, RATED RIVERSIDE’S MOST “SLANDEROUS” AND MEZZSPELLED, “MISSPELLED” AND “OPINIONATED” BLOG SITE!   TMC IS NOW EXCLUSIVELY ON FILE WITH THE COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE’S DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, AND PROSSIBLY POSSIBLY ON FILE WITH THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE’S POTENTIAL SLAPP SUIT LIST…  AGAIN, THANK-YOU COMMUNITY OF RIVERSIDE AND THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE EMPLOYEE’S FOR YOUR SUPPORT!  COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOMED, ESPECIALLY SPELL CHECKERS!  EMAIL ANONYMOUSLY WITH YOUR DIRT!  TMC WISHES ALL, EVEN CITY HALL, A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!  THIRTYMILESCORRUPTION@HOTMAIL.COM  BY THE WAY, COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOMED!