A year after Gov. Jerry Brown announced his intent to kill redevelopment and repatriate billions of dollars in tax monies that go to local agencies, the day of reckoning has finally come. Over 400 agencies officially shut down on Feb. 1.
On the occasion of redevelopment's demise in California, CP&DR caught up with Jim Kennedy, the interim executive director of the California Redevelopment Association. Kennedy has called for the state to acknowledge challenges facing successor agencies and their communities.
"We try to strike an optimistic tone the issues that redevelopment was charged with dealing with haven't miraculously gone away as of this morning. Additional tools will be forthcoming to help localities continue to address those issues, albeit, I don't think anyone has an expectation that that's going to happen quickly or the amount of revenue that might be associated with it will be anywhere near what redevelopment had."
Thanks to Josh Stephens
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research