Second of two parts
Re “Nachbar Promises City Hall Will Press Pols to Return Agency in Some Form”
Minutes after Gov. Brown took office a year ago this month, he issued his declaration of war against Redevelopment Agencies. His words still were volleying down the state when City Hall swirled into emergency action, hoping to prevent Sacramento from entirely wiping out the Agency.
They began meeting at odd hours on normal days off. Audiences were small, but the work, they said, was crucial.
“This is what we did,” said City Manager John Nachbar, who stepped into the breach barely four months after arriving in Southern California from Kansas.
“We tried to transfer as much of the assets of the Redevelopment Agency as possible to the city. The bill that the state Supreme Court upheld last week supposedly invalidates much of that.
“We have some legal arguments,” Mr. Nachbar said. “But I don’t think those are our best hope.
“In short, I think the most important thing is a lot is liable to be lost unless we are able to get the legislature and Gov. Brown to reinstate Redevelopment.”
Mr. Nachbar declined to assess the city’s restoration chances.
“The governor is important in this situation,” said the City Manager, “because if he vetoes (a resuscitated Agency plan), a super (two-thirds) majority is needed to override his veto. We have got to have the governor’s support for bringing back some form of Redevelopment.”
The official denouement date of the state’s 400 agencies appears to be a state secret. Feb. 1 has been reported, but Mr. Nachbar suggested that “multiple deadlines” have been imposed.
“There is a date for the dissolution,” he said, “but there is a longer period to put it into effect.”
