Although he is heavily opposed to Gov. Brown’s proposal to promptly close down all California redevelopment agencies, City Councilman Andy Weissman does not believe “the impact would be dramatic and immediate.
“The impact would be longer term,” he said, “in terms of development activity and investment activity.”
In all of his public presentations, Mr. Brown has emphasized that schools will be the principal beneficiary if his scheme succeeds.
“If my memory is accurate,” said Mr. Weissman, “by agreement, the Redevelopment Agency currently gives to the School District $1.2 million a year. If the Agency is eliminated, that million-plus will go away.
“I don’t know how the state would make up for that. I don’t know if taking all of the Redevelopment Agency dollars up to Sacramento is going to result in better schools in Culver City.
“And I don’t think it will result in a better community in Culver City.
“Historically, the Redevelopment Agency has done a terrific job in improving our community’s quality of life.
After meeting in special session last week, “We have projects going forward that would continue to provide that higher quality and higher value,” the Councilman said.
“By the present arrangement, we can do a better job of controlling the quality of life in Culver City than we ever would if all of this money went to Sacramento.”
From a development perspective, after the Agency earmarked 30 separate projects for present and future delivery last Saturday’s emergency meeting, how well is the city covered if the agencies are shut down?
Regardless of how the governor’s war turns out, said Mr. Weissman, “activities of the Agency — promoting economic development and removing blight — will continue into the mid-term and the long term, into the 2040s.
“Assuming the actions taken by us and by other cities, survive as the state’s plans go forward, then, yes, we were responsible to do what we did last Saturday. We ensured, as best we could within our jurisdiction, the future for Culver City.”
Mr. Weissman has lived in Culver City longer than anyone else on the dais.
