Redevelopment is an entrenched special interest. It thrives on contributions from its beneficiaries and from lack of awareness of the general public. Its advocate is the California Redevelopment Association, a Sacramento-based lobby that seeks to protect and expand redevelopment power.
The CRA claims to represent the interests of cities. It is, in fact, a self-perpetuating money machine that reacts against any reforms that would diminish its power. The CRA's annual budget now tops $1.6 million. Its Executive Director draws $156,200 annually in total compensation. Its contract lobbyist will be paid $122,800 this year, though the CRA is only one of his several clients.
The public has no voice in CRA operations or policies. The CRA is governed by its seven officers and a 12-member board. All are redevelopment agency administrators. None are elected officials. The CRA is operated by redevelopment insiders to serve their interests. Good public policy is the last of its concerns.
The real beneficiaries of redevelopment are not local communities, which must bid against each other for corporate retailers. They are not individual citizens, who have seen their property rights eroded as public debts mount.
The real beneficiaries are those employed by redevelopment agencies. Redevelopment staff controls agency agendas and recommends agency actions. Agency members-usually elected city councils-often rely more on their staff than on their own judgement. Though simple to understand, redevelopment is often presented as too complex for ordinary elected officials-and citizens-to comprehend.
The real beneficiaries, too, are the consultants, lawyers, bond brokers and developers who create, finance, advise, build and otherwise make vast sums from redevelopment projects.
They are easy to find. The California Redevelopment Association's 1996 Directory lists as members 25 commercial development companies, 26 bond brokers, 37 law offices and 101 separate consulting firms. Together, they form redevelopment's core constituency and its only profit-center.
Among these companies are California's biggest developers, priciest law firms and some of Wall Street's most powerful brokerage houses. They are relied on by public officials for "expertise" which is always geared to expanding redevelopment power. They are the donors to the CRA's political action committee, which supports compliant state and local lawmakers. Thus, the tax increment is recycled into political contributions.
What also allows redevelopment to thrive is the lack of public understanding of what it is and how it operates. By law, redevelopment agencies are an arm of state government, and thus are not subject to the same public overview as are those of the counties, school districts and cities. This isolation has spawned activities that would never be tolerated by any other government agency.
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