Political news, Local politics and government news reporting in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.
RDA Shutdown Goes On..and On At the current pace of operation, it feels like unwinding the state’s RDA program will take as long as the agency was in operation. At two meetings last week, the Santa Clara RDA Successor Agency Oversight Board, first, approved an agreement about the disputed $30 million of stadium construction funds; … Read more
About a year ago, California Governor Jerry Brown proposed changes to California’s 80 year-old public employee pension plan. One provision of that proposal is investment-risk sharing. The U.S.’s largest pension fund, CalPERS manages retirement benefits for about 1.5 million California employees and retirees. The current defined benefit pensions mean that employers – ultimately the taxpayers … Read more
History buffs may have noted that 2012 is the 100-year anniversary of the first paving of the California State Highway System, which began with paving the first strip of the El Camino Real on the Peninsula. A century later the El Camino still confronts us with challenges to public policy and aspirations – shorthand for … Read more
Members of the Santa Clara RDA successor agency oversight board weren’t just disinterested executors of state law when they voted on June 22 to nullify $30 million worth of contracts between Santa Clara’s RDA and the 49ers stadium company. Emails obtained by Santa Clara resident James Rowen under the Freedom of Information Act seem to … Read more
As with so many issues in California state finance, following the trail of RDA history leads back to Proposition 13. The 1979 referendum freezing property taxes is central to the complexity of unwinding the state’s RDA program. That’s because Prop 13 had the secondary effect of making redevelopment a popular way for municipalities to take … Read more
The next catastrophe to wallop municipal budgets will be a shortfall in CalPERS returns, adding to the already-escalating payments levied by the California public employees retirement fund on participating agencies. Or so we’re told by the 109,000 news sources that have noted CalPERS’ report that the fund had returned 1.1 percent in 2011-12 on its … Read more
Monday, July 16, was the first day for individuals to pull nomination papers if they intend to run for the offices of Santa Clara City Council, Police Chief or City Clerk in the November 6, 2012 election. The forms may be picked up at the City Clerk’s Office in Santa Clara City Hall, 1500 … Read more
It’s a testimony to Jennifer Sparacino’s unpretentious manner that it’s only when you stop to reckon Santa Clara’s achievements during her 25 years as City Manager that you realize Sparacino’s accomplishments for any given year rival anyone else’s for a lifetime. Or as former Santa Clara Director of Public Works Steve Mashimo put it, “What … Read more
It looks like the County isn’t going to be buttering its bread with Santa Clara’s $30 million. Last week, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly blocked Santa Clara County from distributing $30 million in Santa Clara Redevelopment Agency money earmarked for stadium construction. Last month the Santa Clara Redevelopment Successor Agency Oversight Board voted … Read more
Someone once described democracy as “two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.” It’s an apt description for what’s going on with Santa Clara County Redevelopment Successor Agency Oversight Boards as they disallow RDA obligations and sit on revenues needed to pay the shuttered agencies’ obligations. The state law scrapping redevelopment … Read more