Jerry Brown calls redevelopment agencies futile

(01-20) 04:00 PST Sacramento - --

Gov. Jerry Brown defended his controversial plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies in California, speaking at an event hosted by one of the biggest supporters of the agencies and telling them his plan is what's best for the state.

Afterward, Brown told reporters that some of the more than $1.5 billion of redevelopment projects approved by cities in recent days - essentially an end run around his proposal - may not be legal.

At a gathering for new mayors and council members hosted by the League of California Cities, which has been one of the most vocal opponents of Brown's plan, the Democratic governor said the budget cuts this year are a "zero-sum game."

Out of 'comfort zones'

"If we don't do redevelopment, then what do we do, what do we take? Do we take more from universities? Do we cut deeper into public schools that have been cut year after year?" Brown told the group, some of whose members displayed posters and buttons opposing his plan. "I think we have to, all of us, rise above our own particular perspective, get out of the comfort zones and try to think of California first."

But League of California Cities leaders at the event, where Brown received three standing ovations and brought the crowd of several hundred people to laughter multiple times, said that while they would work with the governor, they flat-out oppose his proposal.

"We've told him we're willing to work with him, we will continue to work with him, but his proposal is so draconian, it's so bad for the creation of jobs in California ... it's so contrary with so many things he wants to accomplish," said Chris McKenzie, executive director of the league of cities.

McKenzie noted that the California Redevelopment Association estimates that local redevelopment agencies bring in $2 billion in local and state tax revenue annually.

Under Brown's proposal, existing redevelopment agencies - which oversee urban renewal in blighted areas and are funded through property taxes - would cease to exist beginning July 1. Instead, that $1.7 billion in property tax money would be used to help plug a $25.4 billion deficit in the general fund for one year and in future years would be directly distributed to counties, cities and school districts. Backers of redevelopment agencies say they are critical economic drivers, but the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office has been a major critic of them and in a report published this week reiterated the conclusion that "there is no reliable evidence that redevelopment projects attract business to the state or increase overall economic development in California."

The analyst also has recommended that the Legislature act to prevent redevelopment agencies from fast-tracking the approval of projects, which many have done in recent days, including on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. Brown said he wants to look more closely at ways to prevent that from happening.

Doubts over validity

Brown also said "there's some legal question" on whether the funds approved are for "valid redevelopment projects," though he did not elaborate. In Los Angeles, officials approved $930 million Friday for a list of projects that ran 19 pages.

In Fremont on Monday night, officials approved $133 million for projects including a new BART station.

Some who would receive some of the reapportioned property taxes if Brown's plan is approved, including teachers and firefighters, have been critical of the moves.

"We hope that at a minimum those agencies that haven't yet launched their raids would hold off and at least let the process move forward," said Carroll Wills, spokesman for the California Professional Firefighters, adding that those fast-tracked projects "may ultimately wind up in the courts."

E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle