Redevelopment: The unknown government

Preface to the Second Edition

When first published in October, 1996, Redevelopment: The Unknown Government was intended to be a concise, user-friendly guide for both concerned citizens and elected officials. The tremendous response has surpassed our most hopeful expectations. Requests have come from every corner of California, quickly exhausting our initial printing of 3,000 and our reprinting of 5,000 copies in May, 1997.

From the State Capitol to the city halls, from news reporters to civic leaders, Redevelopment: The Unknown Government has become an influential resource for fiscal reform.

Of course, the redevelopment establishment is not pleased. The California Redevelopment Association's monthly newsletter created the caustic acronym "RUG" in referring to Redevelopment: The Unknown Government, but they cannot ignore its influence. Their only factual criticism has been the claim that we exaggerated redevelopment debt by including outstanding interest with principal. Only principal should be considered, they say, when looking at redevelopment debt. Our text and graphs, however, make it clear that our figures include both principal and interest, with numbers lifted directly from the State Controller's Office.

The CRA's comments have, however, caused us look at debt in a new way. While long-term interest payments will consume an ever-greater share of property taxes, the principal alone could be paid off from existing agency assets. Avoiding future interest, debts of all agencies could be paid off now, thus freeing up property taxes for real public needs.

The Second Edition's major change is a new chapter--Chapter 11--which proposes to pay off redevelopment debt by liquidating assets, and freeing $1.5 billion in annual tax increment for public schools and local government. Property taxes now subsidizing commercial development would fund our children's education and public safety.

In addition, graphs have been updated and the latest redevelopment bills in the legislature have been added. New Tables VIII, and IX have been added to show the impact of using redevelopment money for public education. A more concise bibliography has also been added.

Through its publications and conferences, Municipal Officials for Redevelopment Reform (MORR) has helped enable citizens to challenge redevelopment power, and emboldened public officials to look beyond narrow special interests to see a broader public constituency. Our next semi-annual conference will be October 10, 1998, at the San Francisco Airport Westin Hotel. Call 714-871-9756 for details.

Many thanks to State Controller Kathleen Connell, who provided much of the information in this book through her office's annually published reports. Thanks to Michael Dardia of the Public Policy Institute, whose Subsidizing Redevelopment in California (1998) is an exhaustive analysis of the true cost of redevelopment. Special thanks to Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters and Riverside Press-Enterprise investigative reporter Dave Danelski, for making redevelopment more understandable to the general public.

Thanks, too, to the many friends and supporters whose insights, dedication and encouragement have made this book possible.

Redevelopment thrives on public ignorance. Both lay people and elected officials are often intimidated by the complexity of redevelopment law, its specialized jargon and mind-numbing financial figures. Redevelopment is, however, easy to understand, if presented in an organized way and using plain English. From understanding comes knowledge. From knowledge comes power-the power to change.

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