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| Recently a political mailer was sent out by “Citizens for Redevelopment of Gardena” purportedly from Gardena Police Chief Rod Lyons. Chief Lyons claims that Measure G, which would allow the Gardena City Council to establish a Redevelopment Agency, will make Gardena even safer by reducing “the conditions that breed crime and destruction”. What conditions is he talking about? The purpose of a Redevelopment Agency is to buy existing commercial or residential properties from their current owners at “fair market value”, by eminent domain (force) if necessary, then sell or give the properties to favored developers who will bulldoze them and build high-tax-revenue-generating properties such as shopping malls, movie theatre complexes, “big box” stores like Wal-mart or high-density housing. Is Chief Lyons saying that the privately-owned property, small family-owned businesses, mobile home parks and family neighborhoods that are in the current Redevelopment Project Study Area breed crime and destruction? How ridiculous! Chief Lyons gives the impression there is a crime wave in Gardena. How much crime is there in Gardena? Here are some statistics from Rand for the City of Gardena:
Source: RAND California It looks like Chief Lyons and the Gardena Police Department are doing a tremendous job of fighting crime on their current budget without a Redevelopment Agency. We applaud them! Chief Lyons also claims that “special interest groups” and absentee landlords are fighting Measure G. Well, those of us who have homes and businesses in the Redevelopment Project Study Area do have a “special interest” in protecting our properties from being taken from us against our will via eminent domain. And we are tax-paying Gardena residents, not “absentee landlords”. Some of the people in the so-called “special interest group” include former mayor Don Dear, former Mayor Ed Russ, former Councilwoman Gwen Duffy and Lorenzo Ybarra, Gardena City Treasurer! Don’t believe Chief Lyons when he says we are conducting a campaign of fear and deception—we know what abuses of power other Redevelopment Agencies in other California cities have done. There are plenty of examples on the web. The deception lies with the City Council who claim that “no residential-zoned areas” will be affected by the Redevelopment Agency. They would have you think that no one will lose their homes. Then why is the entire neighborhood bounded by 178th, Western, 182nd and Denker included in the project area? That area has a couple hundred homes and families. Why is the Garden West Estates Mobile Home Park on Western south of Artesia, which has over 200 mobile homes filled with seniors, included in the project area? These are not R-1 zones but they do have people’s homes in them and these areas have been included in the Redevelopment Project Study Area, which means they could be subjected to eminent domain if Measure G passes. Approval of Measure G will give the City the authority to establish a Redevelopment Agency, another layer of government that is not subject to the will of the people, only to the members of its board who happen to also be our City Council members. A Redevelopment Agency can issue bonded debt without voter approval. A Redevelopment Agency siphons off our tax dollars for its budget and has the authority to give our tax dollars to developers and private businesses as “incentives.” A Redevelopment Agency also has the power of eminent domain over all properties in the “Project Study Area” to force owners to sell whether they want to or not so that their property can be given or sold to developers. City services such as police and fire departments are not normally funded by a Redevelopment Agency’s budget, only the Redevelopment Agency’s activities are. Chief Lyon’s claim that Measure G will “generate funding to protect critical City services such as police” is calculated to scare you into thinking Gardena won’t have enough money for its police department. That is absolutely NOT TRUE. If City funds were properly managed and if existing codes were properly enforced to clean certain areas up, the City could accomplish its redevelopment goals without saddling us with another layer of government and the threat of eminent domain! VOTE “NO” on MEASURE G! |
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