By Beverly Prior, Justice Practice Leader

The regular reporting of the state’s budget woes and the recurring impasse in the state legislature has been wearing on the citizenry, so it felt energizing when Governor Brown arrived in office with a budget plan that would get the legislature to make the tough decisions. But what about the governor’s proposal to eliminate redevelopment agencies statewide? He says that their elimination will save $1.7 billion in the state’s budget next year.

As a proponent of creating vital communities, I appreciate that my tax dollars go, in part, to the government’s facilitation of smart development redevelopment agencies.  And particularly in a time when the state is suffering from high unemployment and decreased property values, the directing of government funds into communities by facilitating development projects should pay both short-term and long-term dividends in construction jobs and the seeds for revitalized communities.

For those of us working on justice projects, redevelopment agencies often facilitate the development of law enforcement and public safety facilities. San Francisco’s planned new police station is in the Mission Bay Project Area.

AIA California Council has developed a position paper for reforming, not eliminating, redevelopment agencies in California:  http://aiacc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/aiacc_redevelopment_ps.pdf.

For more information and legislative status updates, check out the California Redevelopment Association.