City of Santa Barbara

Office of Nlayor
H Sc bile [ d c r5 en tee Cr a re CA go
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sew w Santa Bar hare CA go

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He!ene Schne,de, Mayor

May29 012

mc Honorable Joan Buchanan. Fax: (91 6)3 9-2115 Chair, Asseiiihly Budget Subcommittee 4 on State Adniinistration Calithimia State Assembly C,ty Ha.. State Capitol Building, Room 2148 735 Anacapa Street Sacramento. CA 9agl4
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Santa Barbaa. CA
ealol-t090

RE:

Ma .LLng Address;

Redevelopment Budget Trailer Bill Proposed by the Administration NOTICE OF OPPOSITION

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PC. Co I 990
Santa Sarbara. CA

Dear Assembly Member Buchanan. The City of Santa Barbara writes today to urge you to REJECT the Administrations hLLdget trailer bill relating to redevelopment. mere are a couple (Ii speci tic issues to Santa Baihara that we object to, in addition to the con cenis v( ILL all d your C ml rn i flee i dent. fled ut week when you reviewed the bill cii May 23 2012. Eirst is the new proposal by the Department of Finance to declare that all parking lots and .stnictijres owned by the former Redevelopment Agency be considered surplus properly and sold off rather than transferred to the City for a govamnienlal purpose I cannot express to yoLt in Iron 5 en otigh tcnn 5 how ni uch we object to this newly inserted provi Si Downtown Santa Barbara is recogtiizerl nationally as a leader in downtown revitalization in large part due to our partnership with the business community in creating a unified parking district for employees and visitors over the past 51) years. Ihe City and businesses, as part of a business assessment district, have spent millions of dollars creating the public parking infrastructure, with most coming from previously owned City land or surface parking lots. The Park Once concept has allowed iir the downtown corn to develop in a pedestan ietidl y niantier, and is recoized by the City as providing the required parking for new revitalization effhrts. To declare these public parking lots as not serving a governmental purpose and force the sale of them to a private entity could he detrimental to the long trrm economic vitality of downtown and upend over 50 years of sound community platming. This single additional sentence in the Department ol Finance trailer bill could do irreparable harm to the City of Santa Barbara in the future and is a clear over-reach on [lie Department of Finances efforts. These are public parking lots, and

931 02-I
Tel: aOh.a64.53fl

Fax;

805.554.5475

should clearly be seen as sewing a governmental purpose.

Tb c Honorable J an B uch all an Page vt, >.]: tw May29,1012 Secondly. as you idcntificd in your Committee heanng, the sweep of all funds in (he lAlw awl
Moderate Income Housing Fund il very had public policy. The City of Santa Barbara prides itselF rn building numerous high quality affordable housing prcects throughout town with our non-profIt paitners. including the City Housing Authority. Peoples Self-help Housing, Habitat for Ilumanity, and the Conaniunity Action Coalition to name a few. The City has an urgent need to keep addressing affordable housing. Without these muds, we will have to cancel a project in which we have already assisted in the purchasing of property hut still requires development assistance, let alone being able to consider other projects going tb rw ard. The State of Cal iforni a through t]le Housing Element process mandates that cities be snore aggressive with regards to affordable housing the State shouldnt take away the most effective tool we have to deliver on that ma ida te.

Iis imperative that we all move forward to create a clear. hal arced and fair di 550] ution process, and then tind the tools that continue job creation and corurn unity revitalization in our cities. Contrasy to what the Department ofFinance trailer bill proposes. AB 1585, SB 986 and SB 1335 seek to provide more thoughtful and balanced solutions. These measures take a policy-based approach ofattempting to preserve remaining affordable housing frnds, allow cities and eotiniics to be repaid for lenitimate loans made to redevelopment agencies, and keep tal economic assets like public parking lots and garages. We should not let the end of redevelopment be an opportuni to go back and unravel aN nt the gains weve estab]isbed over (he yeaTs in revitalizing our down (owns. For these reasons, the City I Santa Barbara strong] y urges your rejeLton of the budget trailer bill and instead consider the concepts from those other bills that have undergone a more thorough and deliberative process to this point. If you have any questions, please contact Paid Casey, Assistant City Administrator, at (805)564-5305. Sincerely,

Helene Schneider Mayor cc: Senator Gloria Negrete MeLcod. Chair, Senate Budget Subcommittee 4 on State Administration and General Government, Fax: (916)445-0128 Assembly Member Toni Atkins, Fax: (916)319-2176 Assembly Member Das Williams, Fax: (916)319-2135 State Senator Tony Strickland, Fax: (916)324-7544 League ofCalifornia Cities, Fax: (916)655-5240 Santa Barbara City Council