My Word:

By Elisabeth Reid-Gonzalez, MPA, CPHQ

Http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_16033253

I LIVE in "Old Town" Newark. It's a peaceful, historic, centrally-located Bay Area enclave, and a wonderful place to live. Recently, however, Newark city officials have wrongly labeled this serene neighborhood a "blighted redevelopment zone," including 581 acres and more than 700 homes. To prove that blight exists, a physical survey of each home is conducted and the home is rated based on 40 blight conditions (i.e.: chipping paint). Learn your blight rating on Newark's blight-map, page 79 -- "Redevelopment of Area 2," http://www.newark.org/departments/city-managers-office /agendas-and-minutes/. Does redevelopment address blight? No. Blight eradication is rarely what today's redevelopment projects aim to achieve. Many cities use redevelopment powers to partner with land developers to increase tax revenue by transforming traditional residential and commercial areas into tax-generating, mixed-use properties. For example, Walmart is well known to have an eye out for such redevelopment locales. Redevelopment could be a good thing for Newark -- if managed properly and with respect for residents. However, at this time, the City Council has confessed that its does not have a plan for the redevelopment area, nor has it responded to concerned residents. Our city's general plan is outdated. The most we have been told is that Newark could have new streetlights, medians and parks. Is that really worth the crippling label of "blight?" A more serious consideration is that since the ruling of Kelo vs. City of New London, there is now no legal protection for property owners in redevelopment areas. In the New London case, the city legally flattened a neighborhood of homes to give the land to a pharmaceutical giant. In Newark, we have no guarantee that this will not happen to us, especially when there is no current plan in place. Even with promises of current City Council members, future councils do not have to make good on old promises and redevelopment areas remain so for more than 30 years. Instead of declaring our neighborhood "blighted," the city could enforce the codes, work with homeowners using current grant opportunities, and avoid redevelopment all together. Almost all of the 40 blight conditions used to determine the so-called blight in our neighborhood have fully enforceable codes backing them. The city could save its residents from the negative blight stigma by investing in and taking a targeted approach to code enforcement.

Newark is not blighted, but to be fair, over the past three years it appears that "Old Town" is not getting its fair share of code enforcement, nor have homeowners been informed of their blight.

Redevelopment will not address the lack of code enforcement, nor will it clear up the blight. It is nothing more than a tool that if not properly managed could sink an area rather than allow it to flourish.

Newark residents should be watchful, speak-up and let's ensure we only flourish. Write your City Council members.

Elisabeth Reid-Gonzalez is an executive consultant for a major health care organization and is a six-year resident of Newark where her husband, Francisco, has lived for 36 years.