The last of the big time legal corruption is about to be curtailed. On January 1, 1994, AB1290: The Community Redevelopment Law Reform Act of 1993 goes into effect. Even though the excesses under Redevelopment had gotten so bad they could be smelled all the way to Sacramento, it was not until the legislature ran out of money to make up for the school and county shortfalls caused by money being given away to developers that some restraints have finally been imposed.
The two types of businesses that brought on the reforms are big box discounters and auto dealers. Price Club deals started the review process and Wal-Marts will finish it off. Auto dealers happened along the way.
Supposedly, starting this January no Redevelopment project larger than five acres, principally for retail use, or any car agency can receive any sort of direct assistance from Redevelopment money. Supposedly, that is. I am sure our creative types at city hall will find a way to give money away so they can show on their resume how clever they have been to circumvent the law. All under the guise of saving another dealership for the city.
In today’s marketplace, deals are made with or without cities’ help. It only affects how much rent is paid to the developer. We, as taxpayers, have been subsidizing every car purchased from those car agency projects; additionally, in most cases, the profits go out of town.
We have only 6 weeks to go. Wondrous schemes will surely be popping up all over the state as city managers and redevelopment directors frantically try to corner one last project for their resumes. We must be vigilant to protect our coffers. Another round of giveaways is on the way.