Redevelopment Agencies

By John Raymond Beckman

Redevelopment Agencies are very useful when used properly. I strongly support redevelopment agencies that do not have the power of imminent domain. I just as strongly will oppose redevelopment agencies that have the power of imminent domain.

In the history of RDAs there are several examples of good and bad, and these examples have but one common thread. Success comes when there are good people at the helm and disaster comes when the RDAs are run by people of lesser abilities and competencies.

In Lodi the RDA consists of the City Council, that is a good thing. Elected City Councils tend to be more responsive to citizens than do appointees, but even elected City Councilmembers can develop an attitude of superiority over the constituents they were elected to represent. My experience has taught me that the most important question of people who are elected is not IF they will develop an attitude of superiority, but rather WHEN will they feel that they are better than the common citizen?

Possible powers of a redevelopment agency are that of imminent domain, raising funds through selling bonds and funding through increased tax increments.

The ability to capture the property tax increments when property values rise and keep those tax dollars within the community is to a certain degree simply a shell game played with property tax dollars. Using the authority of an RDA the City can keep more of the property taxes paid by Lodi residents within the City of Lodi. This sole feature makes an RDA highly valuable for a City.

Selling revenue bonds for projects within an RDA falls into a discretionary area. Sometimes it is very beneficial to raise a significant amount of money quickly to finance a project such as the refitting of sewer and water pipes in a twenty block neighborhood. Other times projects could be slowly paid for as you go such as repairing cracked sidewalks one street at a time. The decision to complete a project quickly with the selling of revenue bonds or slowly on a pay as you go basis must be made by the City Council where, hopefully, we have elected wise citizens to make wise decisions.

Imminent domain is the severest of weapons issued to an RDA. Using imminent domain the City of Stockton forced Arroyo's restaurant to move to a new location and took the private property of one citizen, paying market value, and then sold/leased that property to another citizen to be used as a fast food restaurant and a parking lot.

Now I know that there are people who say that blighted areas need to be dealt with and imminent domain is the most efficient and expedient way to do so. I ask those people to remember what Barry Goldwater said. "A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away."

When it comes to issues of government intrusion into private property rights I will always chose to err on the side of private rights. One of the most distinguishing features between America and every other nation on earth is that our Constitution grants and defends private property rights. Unfortunately those rights are only as good as the politicians who were elected to support and defend the Constitution.

"Ultimately, property rights and personal rights are the same thing. The one cannot be preserved if the other be violated." --Calvin Coolidge