Re “Home Sweet Nachbar”
The stay that the California Supreme Court granted last week to the state’s embattled Redevelopment Agencies sports a sunny side and a dark one.
At issue is the constitutionality of Gov. Brown’s requirement for agencies to make a one-time balloon payment to him in exchange for not being dissolved.
Culver City’s Redevelopment Agency already has agreed to pay what some are calling blood money, $12 million, to Sacramento by next May — first installment due in January.
The Supreme Court has stayed the financial obligation but left untouched the provision in Gov. Brown’s order that precludes redevelopment agencies from entering into any obligations with current and proposed projects.
“I think I understand what the logic of the court was,” said City Manager John Nachbar. “It was probably ‘We should make sure these redevelopment agencies don’t enter into any new obligations. Let’s kind of freeze their activities until we figure this out.’
“That must have been their thinking.
“And that is why I say I hope they don’t take too long. We are in the midst of analyzing the implications of this. We still are in the midst of sorting it out with our legal counsel.
“You come across this detail and that detail and try to find out where you stand.”
Like many of the state’s 400 redevelopment agencies, Culver City began last winter preparing for the day when then-new Gov. Brown would issue a daunting order about the brief life expectancy of agencies — so he could use the income for Sacramento purposes.
Having prepared for the rainy day, Culver City’s Community Development Dept. is fully booked at present, all of City Hall’s resources are being utilized.
Their vigil regarding the state Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of Mr. Brown’s order is a week old with probably 4½ more months of waiting ahead.
