Feisty former City Councilman Steve Rose is not ready to agree with a widely held belief that the recession of the last three years is mainly responsible for freezing activity by the previously busy Redevelopment Agency.
“I would answer in two categories,” he said. “If you say the agency is stalled, I say that has been done by those who feel economic development is best handled by doing nothing and creating parks.
“The other side of it is the financial meltdown that started in 2008 and dried up funding.”
Whatever the explanations, redevelopment activity has hovered around minimal the last three years in Culver City.
Since taking office last January, Gov. Brown has been trying to put the state’s 400 redevelopment agencies out of business so he can funnel their monies directly into Sacramento. He was consistently foiled until summertime when a policy was devised to force agencies to hand over tens of millions of dollars that every community needs or be wiped out by fiat. In mid-month, the state Supreme Court agreed to review the constitutionality of the order. The court probably will issue a ruling by the end of December.
Despite the lack of movement by the agency, Mr. Rose is not despairing. “Certain things are happening now that I believe represent progress,” he said. “It’s a four-letter word that people don’t like to use when they talk about the environment. It is called j-o-b-s. That makes up an important part of the environment when you have humans living here.”
Question: Do you believe Parcel B, the long-dormant project in front of the Culver Hotel and The Culver Studios, will be completed before you retire?
“I do,” Mr. Rose said not for the first time in his life. He estimates it will be built within two years.
“I am sure there are people who don’t want it done, period — for aesthetic purposes and because they live in a world where they don’t put aesthetics with people,” Mr. Rose said. “What we need are good jobs, andthat is not on the minds of many people.”
The busy rhythms of the Redevelopment Agency that buzzed around Culver City in the early years of the century are destined not to return, he believes. “I wish they would, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.
“Let me paraphrase a report from a charitable non-profit foundation, complimenting Gov. Brown and the Legislature because in May and June new job growth in the state averaged 28,000 a month.
“If that trend continues, it will be another 87 months before we return to 2005 employment levels.
“Jobs – they are the issue. Until everyone figures that out, we will be in this malaise.”
Speaking like the well-known Culver City Republican he is, the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce said emphatically that “jobs do not come from the public sector. They are somewhat blocked by the public sector. Jobs are created by private investment.
“When the city brought in Symantec, the economy just was starting downhill. Those jobs over there —500 to 600 — are all high-paying. They have little impact on traffic in the area.
“Culver City is fortunate that it has evolved into an entertainment hub rather than just a narrowly defined movie studio town.
“Entertainment is driving the Culver City economy, along with internet content along with tourism,” Mr. Rose said.
