Is anyone at City Hall surprised that property owners in the proposed expansion of the redevelopment agency are a bit suspicious?
Trust in the motives of those who govern us is at an all-time low. But then again not completely trusting your government is a healthy American tradition.
When push comes to shove it is true that the Manteca RDA has a history of not doing anything illegal and not using eminent domain. There are numerous textbook examples of how RDA has been used in Manteca as it was intended to turn blight - the shuttered Speckles Sugar plant and the burned out shell of the El Rey Theatre - into vibrant economic engines. There are also examples of how blight has been effectively prevented as well as housing programs that certainly pass muster by anyone’s standards within the context of RDA rules.
But there have been projects that have prompted debates over whether it was the right investment for the RDA to make with tax dollars.
It is also true that there are those who want to do away with RDA believing - correctly or incorrectly depending upon how you read the world since passage of Proposition 13 - that it has somehow hurt school and local services.
It is correct that inclusion in an RDA project does not change property taxes.
So what is all of the suspicion about?
The answer in one word: “intent.”
What is the city going to do with the money?
No one is against fighting blight or economic development. And, yes, the argument can be made that successful investment to meeting those two goals can accelerate the generation of property and sales tax that will benefit the funding of local services and even schools.
But what will be done to make sure our neighborhoods - the ones proposed to be added plus those already in the RDA - will be protected from blight?
This is an important objective for three reasons. First, it is a heck of a lot cheaper to prevent blight than to have to get rid of it. Second, there are serious funding concerns about basic infrastructure needs such as eventual replacement of streets - especially those in neighborhoods - that has been pegged at excess of $60 million in the coming years. That, by the way, is not a unique problem to Manteca. Every city is facing such long range issues plus other replacement needs ranging from water and sewer lines to neighborhood park rehab and more. Last, but not least under the objectives of the RDA concept, by keeping older neighborhoods up to par you attract and encourage private sector investment in everything from residential to commercial to industrial.
There is an easy way to assure skittish property owners that the city - to paraphrase some of the words they are using - isn’t full of it when it comes to what they intend to do with the RDA funds.
First, and foremost, Manteca needs to establish a neighborhood rehabilitation program just like Stockton. It would address street replacement, park upgrades, storm system needs, and such. It could even pay for constructing community centers that could be operated jointly with non-profits. That was one of the long-range goals if city leaders will recall to permanently start reversing crime and other such issues in neighborhoods like Southside.
And in order to make that work, a program needs to be put in place that diverts 50 percent of all available RDA funds back into residential neighborhoods and not into incentives for new development.
RDA should be the ultimate green investment by government by recycling and strengthening existing development.
It will take more than brick and mortar. The City Council should consider the creation of a Department of Blight Prevention - if you will - staffed by extra code enforcement officers, a fire marshal, and at least two police officers funded 100 percent with RDA taxes. They would be assigned to work exclusively in RDA areas to go after chronic problems.
It is amazing how much blight is the direct result of crime - such as drug houses - and businessmen (landlords) who get away with not being responsible in terms of upkeep and who they rent to.
These are taxing times.
Instead of correctly assailing Sacramento for doing the same thing over and over again to no avail perhaps the Manteca City Council would like to take something such as the RDA that is working and make it significantly more effective in fighting blight and boosting economic development. And at the same time they can downsize that effective use of taxes can make a difference in a neighborhood.
Trust in the motives of those who govern us is at an all-time low. But then again not completely trusting your government is a healthy American tradition.
When push comes to shove it is true that the Manteca RDA has a history of not doing anything illegal and not using eminent domain. There are numerous textbook examples of how RDA has been used in Manteca as it was intended to turn blight - the shuttered Speckles Sugar plant and the burned out shell of the El Rey Theatre - into vibrant economic engines. There are also examples of how blight has been effectively prevented as well as housing programs that certainly pass muster by anyone’s standards within the context of RDA rules.
But there have been projects that have prompted debates over whether it was the right investment for the RDA to make with tax dollars.
It is also true that there are those who want to do away with RDA believing - correctly or incorrectly depending upon how you read the world since passage of Proposition 13 - that it has somehow hurt school and local services.
It is correct that inclusion in an RDA project does not change property taxes.
So what is all of the suspicion about?
The answer in one word: “intent.”
What is the city going to do with the money?
No one is against fighting blight or economic development. And, yes, the argument can be made that successful investment to meeting those two goals can accelerate the generation of property and sales tax that will benefit the funding of local services and even schools.
But what will be done to make sure our neighborhoods - the ones proposed to be added plus those already in the RDA - will be protected from blight?
This is an important objective for three reasons. First, it is a heck of a lot cheaper to prevent blight than to have to get rid of it. Second, there are serious funding concerns about basic infrastructure needs such as eventual replacement of streets - especially those in neighborhoods - that has been pegged at excess of $60 million in the coming years. That, by the way, is not a unique problem to Manteca. Every city is facing such long range issues plus other replacement needs ranging from water and sewer lines to neighborhood park rehab and more. Last, but not least under the objectives of the RDA concept, by keeping older neighborhoods up to par you attract and encourage private sector investment in everything from residential to commercial to industrial.
There is an easy way to assure skittish property owners that the city - to paraphrase some of the words they are using - isn’t full of it when it comes to what they intend to do with the RDA funds.
First, and foremost, Manteca needs to establish a neighborhood rehabilitation program just like Stockton. It would address street replacement, park upgrades, storm system needs, and such. It could even pay for constructing community centers that could be operated jointly with non-profits. That was one of the long-range goals if city leaders will recall to permanently start reversing crime and other such issues in neighborhoods like Southside.
And in order to make that work, a program needs to be put in place that diverts 50 percent of all available RDA funds back into residential neighborhoods and not into incentives for new development.
RDA should be the ultimate green investment by government by recycling and strengthening existing development.
It will take more than brick and mortar. The City Council should consider the creation of a Department of Blight Prevention - if you will - staffed by extra code enforcement officers, a fire marshal, and at least two police officers funded 100 percent with RDA taxes. They would be assigned to work exclusively in RDA areas to go after chronic problems.
It is amazing how much blight is the direct result of crime - such as drug houses - and businessmen (landlords) who get away with not being responsible in terms of upkeep and who they rent to.
These are taxing times.
Instead of correctly assailing Sacramento for doing the same thing over and over again to no avail perhaps the Manteca City Council would like to take something such as the RDA that is working and make it significantly more effective in fighting blight and boosting economic development. And at the same time they can downsize that effective use of taxes can make a difference in a neighborhood.
