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Dear Republican Legislator,
Until this past week, Republicans in the California State Legislature have been longstanding champions of private property rights. The Alliance fails to understand how you failed to seize an opportunity to cut $1.7 billion in funding for redevelopment agencies (RDA), the largest perpetrators of eminent domain abuse in California.
What happened to the Party that criticized RDAs for exercising their power of eminent domain to forcibly seize homes, small businesses and places of worship from unwilling sellers?
Given that only one Republican member of the State Assembly voted to abolish RDAs, we feel compelled to remind you that the California Republican Party (CRP) platform calls for private property rights, and when the CRP endorsed Propositions 90 and 89, it was the California Redevelopment Agency Association that financed opposition to ballots measure that sought to end eminent domain abuse.
The Party who condemns President Barack Obama’s taxpayer bailouts and corporate welfare for Wall Street and General Motors now champion agencies that use taxpayer dollars to subsidize development projects and sports arenas. And all this follows a recently released State Controller’s audit of redevelopment agencies that revealed excessive abuse and misuse of taxpayer dollars!
As a lifelong Conservative, opposed to eminent domain and bogus redevelopment activity, I hope that you reconsider your support for redevelopment agencies the next time the budget comes before you. If not, Democrats will become champions of private property rights and Republicans will lose a faithful bloc of voters.
Sincerely,
Larry Gilbert
Director
CC: California Republican Party
2795 E. Bidwell Street #100-119 Folsom, CA 95630 Phone (916) 552-0235 Fax (916) 817-2444 www.calpropertyrights.com
I completely agree with your principle here Larry, I fear it may be the behind the curtain stuff that is confusing the picture. While abolition of a wasteful and abusive redevelopment process is a good thing, I fear that returning $1.7 BILLION to a Democrat controlled legislature with a free spending Democrat Governor may be worse.
Geoff. While we complained when virtually no one read the 2000 plus page stimulus bill I wonder how many opinionated writers have read SB 77or the 42 page Assembly version AB 101 (that I read from at our city council meeting last night).
We should all read it to gain a better understanding of what the governor and the GOP Assembly Members are struggling with, behind closed doors, as it relates to shutting down our 425 redevelopment agencies.
As to returning the money to the Dem’s. That $1.7 Bil. is part of a cut to close the massive budget gap.
Larry, if there were assurances in the bill that the money would be used to close the budget gap and not for additional spending, it would have my full support.
Geoff. Our elected officials in SAC are in a high stakes game.
The governor is pressing for budget cuts as he looks for the GOP to support an extension of the temporary taxes which as of now is not on the table, at least from our side.
No matter how the redevelopment aspect plays out getting rid of RDAs is but one piece of a huge unpredictable puzzle.
I’ve just received a call to run for a congressional seat. Stay tuned. It might be fun.
So it is better to keep the current system? Because it saves 1.7 billion that may not have to be cut from Schools. Schools are 40% plus of the State budget.
The logic escapes me on this one.
Funny thing is that the State has little control over the budget for education since the biggest hunk – teacher’s salaries and BIG benefits – are set at the local level.
Geoff.
You are correct about Prop 98 funding for education. However you are aware of redevelopment agency “pass throughs” that provide some of the back-fill for school districts.
Prop 98 mandates that around 40% of the state budget, or $55 billion depending on which year you research, be spent on K-14 education.
“Do California Republicans support property rights”?
Sure if you pay them as much as the freeloading developers who benefit from RDA funds.
Larry, The California GOP (and more so the OCGOP) has become a completely selfserving organization with few if any positions of principal.
It’s the money, now more than ever.
dkmfan.
Sad but true. Simply look at their 460 forms every filing period to see which “special interests” provide their campaign contributions. We know who they are. Auto dealer Associations, developers, etc.
As we just faxed and emailed this press announcement late this afternoon I have already received replies from a few elected Republicans in the GOP caucus.
We will all need to wait and see what happens next as the clock keeps ticking for the governor to balance his budget and/or get the power to put the tax extension on the upcoming ballot.
Larry,
“The Party who condemns President Barack Obama’s taxpayer bailouts and corporate welfare for Wall Street and General Motors now champion agencies that use taxpayer dollars to subsidize development projects and sports arenas.”
You must of MEANT to say “the Party that DESIGNED and CHAMPIONED the taxpayer bailouts and corporate welfare for Wall Street and General Motors…” as ALL those things were done or begun during the Bush administration which was a REPUBLICAN administration.
If you want to have credibility as a public watchdog, getting your facts straight and being HONEST should be paramount.
Anonster.
Perhaps we can compromise and include both presidents as this corporate welfare overlapped.
No matter how they slice and dice it, including using, and I do mean using, Huell Howser for blowing smoke, we have redevelopment agency abuses across the state.
While I have suspicions relating to the support of governor Brown’s plan by State Assembly Democrats, lets cut off the head of the snake while we can.