Gov. Jerry Brown is taking some radical steps to tackle California’s burgeoning deficit, now estimated at $25.4 billion. Apart from the hiring freeze that he just announced, he has been eying redevelopment agency funding, hoping it will add a few billion to his coffers. The cities and counties are fighting back. On Tuesday night, Santa Cruz residents gathered outside Del Mar Elementary School, where the County Board of Supervisors was scheduled to meet. Most of them came to show their support for the Board’s efforts to use local RDA money before the state can snatch it away.
Spending is easy, the Supervisors found. By the end of the meeting, they had approved $600 million in redevelopment projects. These included a new Sheriff’s center ($60 million), a new Boys and Girls Club youth center, a behavioral unit and plenty of money for affordable housing, parks and improvements to local infrastructure.
Participants at the rally and later at the meeting were also asked to fill out postcards to Brown expressing their dissatisfaction with his plans for RDA funds. Considering that Santa Cruz was just one of 20 localities that have taken similar steps, the Sacramento post office will be quite busy over the next few days. Read more at KSBW and the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
