San Jose Pledges To Fight For Redevelopment Agencies
SAN JOSE (KCBS) - The City of San Jose, which has one of the largest redevelopment agencies in the state, is ready to do battle with newly sworn-in Gov. Jerry Brown over the budget.
KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:
Governor Brown will reportedly propose the elimination of all redevelopment agencies in California. That idea, a way to help cut California's $28 billion budget deficit, isn't going over too well in Silicon Valley.
"I think the legislature should take a look at the areas they're concerned about," suggested San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. "There certainly have been some abuses of redevelopment funding around the state of California over the last couple of decades, the legislature ought to fix those. But the redevelopment funds are vitally important to economic development, creating jobs and getting our economy moving again in California. We need those funds in order to do that."
In short, if redevelopment agencies land on the chopping block, it would be significantly harder for San Jose to proceed with proposed projects like building the A's a new ballpark.
"A baseball stadium is a good example of a $460 million private sector investment that will generate jobs and revenue for the city," said Reed. "And we're using redevelopment dollars to help pay for some of the cost of the land."
Reed maintained that doing away with redevelopment funding would put California at a competitive disadvantage with other states, namely Texas and Arizona.
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