By Megan Burks
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Last week we shared reaction to Mayor Jerry Sander’s flashy State of the City speech. Those that stood out to this City Heights reporter were the ones touching on its disregard for neighborhoods.
Emphasis – in a video set to music by rapper Eminem – was placed squarely on City Hall and its downtown surroundings.
Scott Lewis of our media partner, voiceofsandiego.org, said it best with this: “Never has the established disregard for neighborhoods been so stark.”
In the coming weeks we’ll repackage that criticism and turn to the candidates looking to replace Sanders in November. Do their visions extend past Interstate 5 and where do they stand on the issues that matter most to City Heights?
On Redevelopment
Since redevelopment agencies will soon be packing up their desks, let’s start there. Remember, state legislators passed a law to end redevelopment agencies, the groups that use tax revenue for developments in certain blighted communities. The California Supreme Court upheld that law shortly before the New Year.
Redevelopment has been a big issue for two reasons: it has been criticized for funneling too much money into downtown and not enough into neighborhoods, and its funding relies on tax revenues that would otherwise help the state pay for education and social services.
What the Candidates Say
According to voiceofsandiego.org, City Councilman Carl DeMaio is proposing a statewide initiative to bring redevelopment back. But it seems the candidate, who has pledged to clean up City Hall, wants to do so to benefit distressed neighborhoods instead of downtown. He criticized a deal by fellow candidate Nathan Fletcher to boost the amount of redevelopment dollars going to downtown, calling it a contributing factor in redevelopment’s demise.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, who has the endorsement of Mayor Sanders, called the state supreme court’s decision “a major setback” to job creation. She called on legislators to bring redevelopment back, buts it’s unclear if she would push to shift that money away from downtown.
U.S. Congressman Bob Filner called for an end to downtown’s redevelopment corporation well before the court’s decision, saying he wanted to focus on outlying neighborhoods instead. Filner told U-T San Diego following the court decision “the fact that all these power brokers and the mayor are so upset means it must be the right thing to do.”
Calif. Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher is a strong proponent of redevelopment, as evidenced by a last-minute deal he brokered last year to raise the spending cap and extend the life of downtown’s redevelopment corporation. While he encouraged a discussion about how the extra money might benefit affordable housing and neighborhoods, critics suggested the deal was aimed at securing a new Chargers stadium. There was also talk that his swift action broke some rules.
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