Here’s what we’re reading today:
- Blight barons of redevelopment plot comeback – Steven Greenhut (O.C. Register): “As of February, anyway, redevelopment is dead in California, the victim of an absurdly arrogant legal and political strategy pursued by redevelopment’s chief defenders. This is wonderful news, made even better by the teeth-gnashing of public officials who have routinely abused their powers under redevelopment law. Cry me a river. But before I gloat too much, we need to remember that this victory already resembles one of those cheap horror movies where the Evil Thing has been vanquished, and all appears well, then its hand pokes out from the grave just as the credits begin.”
- RDA Timeline: Hatchet to Fall Feb. 1 – via California Planning & Development Report: “State senators Alex Padilla and Luis Alejo have reportedly introduced Senate Bill 659, which would extend the deadline for agencies’ dissolution for several months. Though it will be heard soon in the Senate Local Government Committee, its chances of success remain unclear.”
- Supreme Court Upholds Elimination of Redevelopment in California – Now What? – from the California Eminent Domain Report – the archive of their presentation about the next possible steps.
- As redevelopment death sentence nears, protest volume rises – via the Santa Rosa Press Democrat: “Sonoma City Manager Linda Kelly said the loss of redevelopment money is on the same scale as the passage of Proposition 13, the landmark 1978 ballot initiative that slashed property tax rates in California.”