O.C. business, labor and political leaders oppose Brown’s attack on redevelopment

For Immediate Release: January 28, 2011

Contacts: Jill Cagle, BIAOC, (949) 553-9500; Tony Cardenas, League of California Cities, (714) 425-5558

***MEDIA ADVISORY***

Orange County Leaders in Local Government, Business, Affordable Housing and Labor Announce Opposition to Administration’s Proposal to Eliminate Redevelopment

Group warns proposal will kill hundreds of thousands of local jobs, harm local economies and hinder the national housing recovery while doing nothing to solve the State budget deficit

When/Where:

Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 11:00 a.m.
Colony Park: 710 Melrose Street Anaheim, CA 92805

What: Anaheim Council Member Kris Murray, and Irvine Council Members Larry Agran and Jeffrey Lalloway join local business, affordable housing and labor leaders on February 1, at Anaheim’s Colony Park, an affordable housing project currently under construction, to declare their opposition to the Administration’s proposal to eliminate redevelopment agencies in California.

This proposal represents more of the same misguided and illegal State budget raids of local government funds that voters have repeatedly voted against. This is a short-term fix that will permanently destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in local economic activity, including over 75,000 jobs in Anaheim alone. While local officials realize Governor Brown is facing tough choices, gutting tools to create local jobs and economic opportunity is a non-starter and will be vehemently opposed.

Who:

• Anaheim Council Member Kris Murray
• Irvine Council Member Larry Agran and Council Member Jeffrey Lalloway
• Building Industry Association of Orange County John O’Brien, Vice President, Brookfield Homes
• Habitat for Humanity of Orange County Sharon Ellis, Chief Executive Officer
• Orange County Business Council
• Trade Union Representatives/Labor
• Local Homeowner Testimony

Visuals: The backdrop for the press conference is Anaheim’s Colony Park, and will include workers building an ongoing project that would get shut down if redevelopment agencies are abolished. Colony Park, an affordable housing project, sits on the site of a formerly contaminated area that was cleaned up and revitalized through Anaheim’s Redevelopment Agency.

About Redevelopment:

• Redevelopment activities support an average of 304,000 full- and part-time private sector jobs in a typical year, including 170,600 construction jobs;
• Redevelopment contributes over $40 billion annually to California’s economy in the generation of goods and services;
• Redevelopment construction activities generate $2 billion in state and local taxes in a typical year; and
• Governor Brown’s elimination of redevelopment agencies would only provide a one-time cash infusion of $1.7 billion, and $0 in future years; and
• Success stories of redevelopment are all over Orange County; please refer to the press packet for a list of ongoing projects that would be jeopardized if redevelopment agencies are abolished.

Tony Cardenas
Public Affairs Regional Manager
Orange County Division
League of California Cities
(714) 425-5558
Tcardenas@cacities.org