Eight Local Mayors Issue Public Plea to Sen. Lowenthal to Save Redevelopment Funds

The mayors from eight nearby cities, including Cerritos, Artesia, Bellflower, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood, Paramount, Signal Hill and South Gate, recently issued a public plea to State Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, asking for his support in saving local redevelopment agencies.

On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law proposals to eliminate the more than 400 redevelopment agency programs statewide that help fund many city construction projects, city jobs, new infrastructure, affordable housing developments and provide tax revenues. 

Gov. Brown proposed the dismantling of the redevelopment agency program in an effort to help tackle the estimated $28 billion state budget deficit. And while in some cities these agencies tend to be very small and have little impact on their communities, cities like Artesia and Cerritos would be deeply affected by the eradication of these funds.

Affect on Artesia

"This elimination and hostage taking of local redevelopment funds sends our city and the entire state of California on the wrong track," Artesia Mayor Victor Manalo said in a statement, adding that shutting down this program would have "dire consequences" on the community.

In the city of Artesia, some of the projects supported by the city's Redevelopment Agency funds include:

1. Downtown Revitalization
2. Redeveloping Parks
3. Street reconstruction
4. Historical District
5. Public Works Yard

Jobs that would be at risk with the removal of redevelopment funds include:

1. Finance Aide
2. Redevelopment and Planning Director
3. Administrative Analyst

Affect on Cerritos

In the City of Cerritos, some of the projects that were built with the city's Redevelopment Agency funds include:

"The City of Cerritos will be negatively impacted if Redevelopment is eliminated as proposed by the State Legislature," Cerritos Mayor Carol Chen stated in an email to the community. "Cerritos Redevelopment revenues represents $30 million dollars which is 25% of the City's total budget. By taking this funding away, the services that we provide to our citizens and businesses and the city staffing will mostly be cut."

Mayor Chen told Patch that she hopes citizens who read the published plea to Sen. Lowenthal will reach out to the senator by phone and email, asking him to help support the state's redevelopment agency program.

Sen. Lowenthal currently represents the California State Senate, 27th District, which serves the communities of Artesia, Avalon, Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Florence-Graham, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Lynwood, Paramount, Signal Hill, South Gate, and Willowbrook.

Earlier this month, the senator announced his plans to run for a new U.S. congressional seat that would potentially be created as part of a larger redistricting effort that will be decided later this summer. The proposed new congressional district would include all of Long Beach and Cerritos, Signal Hill, Paramount, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood, La Palma, Rossmoor, Los Alamitos and Catalina.

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Below is a copy of the text from the open letter to Sen. Lowenthal that was recently published in the Long Beach Press Telegram:

We are the mayors of eight cities within the 27th Senate District represented by state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, and we are immensely troubled by his position on the elimination of redevelopment agencies.

During the recent state budget process, we have met with the senator, written to him, pleaded with him to protect our local economies. We have asked him not to support balancing the state's budget, once again, on the backs of local communities. With one voice we have asked Sen. Lowenthal to save redevelopment, the only economic stimulus tool available to local cities, and critical to our collective well-being. Despite this, he not only voted for the elimination of local redevelopment agencies, but his floor speech convinced other legislators to do so, as well.

We believe that the senator should be very much aware that each city in his district is vehemently opposed to these bills he avidly supported, and for which he lobbied strongly. Redevelopment has literally saved some of our cities, and continues to do important and productive work for our residents and businesses. Redevelopment creates jobs and sparks economic activity. That the senator should advocate dismantling such a vital tool for his constituents is stunning.

Sen. Lowenthal claims that, in these hard times, we must all share the burden. The state, however, is not sharing it. The state is shifting it onto our backs, at a time when we are making difficult decisions necessary to balance our budgets, the very decisions the state refuses to make.

It's ironic that we hear calls from Sacramento to let the voters decide on the governor's proposed tax extensions when, in reality, the senator and his colleagues have shown total disregard for the will of the electorate. Last year, Californians voted to end the state's looting of local funds with Proposition 22.

Did that message not get through?

Sen. Lowenthal is our representative. We still believe it is his job to protect and improve the lives of those he represents, of those who put him in office. His blindness to the realities of local government, his record of burdening our communities, our residents and our businesses with costly and ineffectual regulations and laws, and his ultimate abandonment of redevelopment does not look like representation.

We ask, once again, for Sen. Lowenthal to be our voice in the capitol. We request that he reconsider his unquestioning support of harmful budget cuts fashioned by his party's leadership - such as the elimination of redevelopment - and other forces in Sacramento hostile to local government. We call for the senator to throw his support behind saving redevelopment and adopting the reasonable alternative that has been presented by the League of California Cities and CRA, an option that will contribute $2 billion to the State.

(Signed by)

Mayor Victor Manalo, Artesia

Mayor Scott Larsen, Bellflower

Mayor Carol Chen, Cerritos

Mayor Michael Gomez, Hawaiian Gardens

Mayor Larry Van Nostran, Lakewood

Mayor Daryl Hofmeyer, Paramount

Mayor Larry Forester, Signal Hill

Mayor Maria Davila, South Gate