Politics & Government

City Groups File Lawsuit To Save Redevelopment Agencies

Groups file lawsuit at the California Supreme Court level, hoping to save members from paying millions to the state.

Two California cities and two city group organizations filed suit against the state in the California Supreme Court Monday, hoping to overturn a pair of laws passed with the state budget that effectively end redevelopment as California knows it.

The California Redevelopment Association, The League of California Cities, San Jose and Union City joined together to file the lawsuit against the state, contending that two laws, AB 1X 26 and AB 1X 27 violate Proposition 22, passed by 61 percent voters in November to prevent the state from taking local government money.

Gov. Jerry Brown said ending redevelopment would save the state $1.7 billion that could go to core services like schools and public safety.

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“We’re confident that this measure – which was passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor – is legally sound," H.D. Palmer, Brown's deputy director of the state Department of Finance, said in an e-mail. "Redevelopment agencies were created by an act of the legislature in 1945, and they can similarly be dissolved by an act of the legislature.  We cannot afford to be spending more than a billion dollars a year on local redevelopment projects at a time when our core services – including education and public safety – are being cut.”

But the lawsuit proponents disagree.

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“The governor and legislature have blatantly ignored the voters and violated the state constitution,” Chris McKenzie, executive director of the League said in a prepared statement. “We must now go to the State Supreme to uphold the voters’ will and the constitution by overturning this unconstitutional legislation.”

The League and the CRA are trying to get the court to freeze the two state laws while the courts decide their fate, thus saving cities from having to make payments to keep their agencies alive for one more year, while not entering into any new business.

Read this story about Suisun City’s redevelopment dilemma.

Suisun City has a major stake in the outcome of the lawsuit, because if it fails or if the court refuses to freeze the new laws, it will have to pay millions to keep its redevelopment house in order.

City Manager Suzanne Bragdon said if the state gets its way there will cuts to city services residents will notice, such as special events like the 4th of July celebration and possibly the elimination of specialized code enforcement officers.

John Shirey, executive director of the CRA, said in an interview said the state budget “clearly violates Prop. 22 in our minds."

"The bottom line for us is these are serious laws,” he said. “These are laws that put agencies out of business. These are laws that are causing incredible disruption in local government throughout this state. These are laws that are causing local governments to pull back on investments in their communities.”

You can read Suisun City Patch's series on redevelopment in Suisun City here.


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