Politics & Government

Monrovia Moves to Shed 'Death Penalty' and Shield Redevelopment Funds from State

The city followed the example set by several other cities looking to block the governor from taking local redevelopment money to close the state budget gap.

Already ardent critics of Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to eliminate local redevelopment agencies, Monrovia officials moved Tuesday to shield redevelopment funds from the state in an effort to keep the money from being used to help close California's $25 billion budget deficit.

Brown has proposed and transferring their assets and the property tax revenue they collect to the state to pay for "core" services like education and public safety. The proposal has drawn the ire of community's like Monrovia that have relied heavily on redevelopment over the years to clean up blight and attract business.

The city already shirked a required $3 million payment of redevelopment funds to the state last year, dooming its redevelopment agency to the so-called "death penalty," which prevented the agency from operating until the payment was made.

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One of just five cities in California to refuse payment last May, the city's agency has been barred from entering into any new deals ever since.

But on Tuesday, the City Council moved to sell land at the corner of Huntington Drive and Myrtle Avenue owned by the redevelopment agency to the city for $2.55 million, effectively killing two birds with one stone: it can now make the required multi-million dollar payment to the state while also shielding the assets from being taken under the governor's plan.

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City Manager Scott Ochoa, a vocal critic of the governor's proposal, said the city was actively trying to block the state from taking local funds.

"We need to make sure that we are doing our best to shield the assets of the redevelopment agency as best we can under the terms of the law," Ochoa told the council on Tuesday.

In an interview, Ochoa said the governor's proposal marks the worst "erosion of local control" he's seen since working for Monrovia.

"I've been here 18 years and I have never ever like this," Ochoa said. "Now we're seeing virtually the wholesale bludgeoning of local goverment. They're just going to whack off whole pieces of it."

The council voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize Ochoa to make the sale whenever he sees fit. Councilman Tom Adams took the opportunity to blast the state before voting to shield the funds.

"Its unfortunate that the fools up in Sacramento have put the entire state in jeopardy with their actions," he said.

Carroll Wills, spokesman for the California Professional Firefighters association, said in an interview that his organization stands firmly with Brown and described the city's action as "theft." The budget crisis is so dire, Wills said, that cities must begin to accept that vital services are more important than redevelopment.

"Our basic concern about the redevelopment process and one of the reasons we support the governor is all of our easy choices in Sacramento and in local governments have been made," Wills said. "We’re left with only difficult choices."

Wills said the money taken by the state will still funnel back to local governments. They just won't be able to control all of it, he said.

"I understand why cities are put out by the fact they have to share this largesse but the bottom line is it doesn’t belong to the City Council of Monrovia, it belongs to the taxpayers," Wills said.

Brown's only statement on the practice of shielding the funds came in January when other cities like Los Angeles and Pasadena made similar moves.

"We hope that the redevelopment agencies rushing through billions in taxpayer dollars are going to use these funds to create jobs now," said Brown spokeswoman Elizabeth Ashford, according to the Fresno Bee. "These scarce dollars, which could be used to protect police, firefighters and teachers, should not be banked away for special projects."

The status of the governor's plan remains very much in flux, and what it's final incarnation will look like is "as clear as mud," Ochoa said. The legislature most recently announced a plan that would eliminate redevelopment agencies and turn their assets over to cities, but that comes with a catch.

The money would then be administered by a 7-member oversight committee created for each of the state's nearly 400 cities with redevelopment agencies. Those committees would be made up of one person appointed by the city, one appointed by the local school district, one appointed by the local community college district, and four appointed by the county.

By default, the county would have a voting majority on the committee, Ochoa said.

"Even in our own backyard ... we're still outvoted in our own town by a voting bloc that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Monrovia other than they were appointed to this," Ochoa said in an interview.

However, there is a glimmer of hope for redevelopment agencies yet, Ochoa said. The state legislature's attorneys have said that the governor's proposal may need to be sent directly to the electorate as a ballot measure. If that were to happen, Ochoa said he was confident that voters would reject the measure because they last November.

The situation is so fluid that the City Council may need to call a special meeting next week to continue the shielding process if the state adhere's to its own March 11 deadline in pushing the plan forward, Ochoa said. In that scenario, the city would continue transferring up to $40 million in land assets from the redevelopment agency to the city.


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