The death of redevelopment agencies, often referred to as community redevelopment commissions or CRAs in most cities, took effect Feb. 1.

Cities held their last redevelopment meetings in the days prior to the closure deadline, settling affairs and preparing for the long dismantling process.

On Monday, a Monterey Park city councilwoman, serving on city's redevelopment commission, approved their final actions as an agency "in protest," while another city councilwoman compared the process ahead of them to "probate."

The Commerce city council adjourned in memory of redevelopment Tuesday night, an action usually reserved for memorializing community members and notable figures who have died.

Many cities including Commerce, Monterey Park, Bell Gardens and Montebello have chosen to serve as their own undertaker, voting to be the "successor agencies" tasked with winding down their redevelopment agencies. The city of Los Angeles, fearing potential lawsuits and liability for employees, bowed out of the process, voting to instead let the state dissolve its redevelopment agency.

City officials, across the board, say they foresee legal battles and years of wrangling over provisions of AB X1 26, the state law passed last year that sounded the death knell for redevelopment agencies.

Much of the dispute could be over the liquidation process, what cities get to pay, and what they have to pay out. The rules, city officials complain, are ambiguous.

For decades, cities and other local governments that formed redevelopment agencies used it to eliminate blight, increase affordable housing in their cities, and stimulate economic development in their cities to varying degrees of success.

While some cheered the end to redevelopment, city officials and employees who have worked in the field for decades, and who have used the agencies to bring in major tax revenue generators to their cities as well as affordable housing, mourned its loss.

Officials hopeful for an extension had no choice but to be resigned to their fate Tuesday night.

"After 30 some years, residents should be proud of our Citadel, Casino, which have provided benefits to residents for years," said Commerce Councilman Robert Fierro.

Related articles:
• An End to Redevelopment in Alhambra or Business as Usual?
• Senators Introduce Bill To Delay Redevelopment Shutdown By Two Months
• Cities Scramble to Make Sense of End to Local CRAs
• California High Court Upholds Abolishment of Redevelopment Agencies

Elizabeth Hsing-Huei Chou is a writer for Eastern Group Publications.

This article originally appeared in Eastern Group Publications.

Read more EGP stories »

Leimert Park and Baldwin Hills seems to be caught in a struggle between the new City Council President Herb and Councilman Bernard Park.

The Redistricting Commission released a draft of the new Los Angeles City Council districts boundaries, moving Leimert Park Village from the 8th to the 10th district. At 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, the Commission will hold a public hearing at West Angeles Church, 3045 Crenshaw Blvd. Be there. Be heard.

Wesson seems to have all the cards, lots of backing in the area and in city hall, as Councilman Bernard Parks enters his final years on the city council. He is in the second year of this third term and is termed out.

Wesson, who was elected council president by his fellow councilmembers, also took away parks committee chair of the powerful Budget Committee. The tiff seems to have been brewing for a while unfortunately.

Wesson already has a presence in our area, as he represents north Leimert Park and west West Adams (Parks has a better map). This possibility was raised at a Cherrywood Leimert Park last year, and many in the audience cheered the idea. But there are many Parks supporters in the area as well. It seems that some of the economic development plans that Parks was pursuing were finally being accomplished (before the redevelopment debacle anyway).

The map that was released Friday shows that District 10 would now encompass all of Leimert Park and all of West Adams. But the new boundaries would leave Baldwin Hills with Councilman Parks. It seems like a bit of a gerrymander, but perhaps it's better for a defined neighborhood to stay with one councilman.

The Empowerment Congress West Area Neighborhood Council stressted all the areas should be under one district.

Parks sent out an email to residents: "The most egregious examples of this disregard for the public's wishes and the Charter requirements are:

• Splitting up the historic Leimert Park neighborhood so that only the businesses and park remain in the Eighth District, while all the residences go to the Tenth district.

• Splitting Baldwin Vista from the rest of Baldwin Hills and placing it in the Tenth District."

LA Observed has an overview of the politics and the arguments — from city hall observers from all over Los Angeles.

Eddie North Hager is editor of Leimert Park Beat.

Council District 10 from cd10.lacity.org.

This article originally appeared in Leimert Park Beat.

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Alhambra's main agent to lure new businesses to the city officially dissolved on Wednesday, but it doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon.

The state shut down more than 400 redevelopment agencies, including Alhambra's, but city officials plan to preserve at least some of its functions, which are responsible for bringing in a long list of national retailers including Starbucks, LA Fitness, Toys R' Us, Costco, Taco Bell, Kohl's, Volkswagen. Support has ranged from $136,000 to Starbucks in the 1990s, to $1.2 million to create the Renaissance Plaza at Garfield and Main, to free rent to Subway in exchange for renovations. Smaller restaurants and bars such as Havana House or 38 Degrees were among the recipients, as was the Lizard Theater and housing developments.

Critics, among them Governor Brown, questioned why tax dollars should go to billion-dollar retailers instead of funding cash-strapped education and public service initiatives. This lead to the state decision to shut them down on February 1. But Alhambra's City Manager, Julio Fuentes, who is president of the California Redevelopment Association and a leading advocate for the role the agencies play in fueling private investment, said that the city will find other ways to continue its functions.

"Private sector is our lifeblood," Fuentes said. "We are considering adopting an ordinance that would enable us to do economic development similar to what the agency did in its former life." Although he said there were challenges ahead, none of the agency staff will be laid off. Instead, they will now be paid through the city's general fund.

If it plans to continue, the redevelopment agency will have to find new ways to support itself. Previously funds came primarily from tax increments on property taxes. Fuentes said it will be a challenge, but they should be able to find other sources. "We could use sales taxes, we could use property taxes from that individual project," he said. "We could also probably use any type of grant money, in particular though HUD." Other options include tapping into reserves, inter-agency loans, and creating special districts within downtown corridors. Because Alhambra is a charter city, and can make many of its own rules without approval of the state, Fuentes said he believes this should not be a problem.

Redevelopment projects on Main Street, Alhambra

But local state representatives, reflecting the decisions out of Sacramento, raised questions about the efficacy of redevelopment programs. "Redevelopment agencies definitely have a checkered past," said Steve Veres, the district director for State Senator Kevin de Leon. As California starts making painful cuts to education and housing, he said, "It's hard to defend redevelopment as it stands now."

Veres cited projects in other cities where funds that were initially intended to alleviate urban blight instead went toward upscale development such as a luxury golf course upgrade in Palm Desert.

Assemblyman Mike Eng, whose office is in Alhambra, defended the redevelopment agencies, saying that they could be a powerful engine for affordable housing and economic development. "While I was and continue to be supportive of many of the Governor's efforts to balance the state budget and eliminate our ongoing structural deficit, I did not support his proposal to completely eliminate our redevelopment agencies," he wrote in an e-mail. Instead, he supported legislation that would allow cities to voluntarily opt to remain in the program, which Alhambra had intended to do.

Without that option, Alhambra local officials maintain that the cuts will hurt the city, even if much of the agency operations go on. Fuentes said that he had just returned from speaking at the International Shopping Center's Conference where a number of companies said they planned on bidding on the Alhambra Place mall. The former home to Mervyn's it's been vacant for a number of years. Fuentes maintains that redevelopment funds have gotten that space to a place where a major retailer could move in. "If that product doesn't get developed," Fuentes said, "it's going to be if redevelopment is not there to fill the gap."

Related articles:
• Senators Introduce Bill To Delay Redevelopment Shutdown By Two Months
• Cities Scramble to Make Sense of End to Local CRAs
• California High Court Upholds Abolishment of Redevelopment Agencies

Daniela Gerson is editor of Alhambra Source. Paul Wong is a Community Contributor to Alhambra Source.

Photos by Nathan Solis.

This article originally appeared in Alhambra Source.

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Lea esta nota EN ESPAÑOL: El Esfuerzo de Incorporar el Este de Los Ángeles se Queda en el Limbo

Backers of a four-year campaign to gain cityhood status for unincorporated East Los Angeles were left in limbo Wednesday, when the Los Angeles Local Agency Formation Commission (LA LAFCO) voted in favor of closing public participation and tabling the matter for two weeks.

The 9-member commission voted unanimously to approve LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky motion to table the issue until LAFCO's Feb. 8 meeting.

However, before the meeting ended, Supervisor Gloria Molina, in whose district East Los Angeles is located, and who until yesterday had remained publicly neutral on cityhood, said East LA's finances cannot be denied. A new fiscal analysis will not be done, she said.

"Nothing in those numbers can possibly change, interpretations will always be made... One thing is clear, that is unfortunate, the numbers tell us clearly you can do it, but understand you are going to pay more for less. That's what the numbers tell us," Molina said eliciting applause from cityhood opponents, and boos from at least one incorporation supporter.

The postponement decision came after four hours of passionate testimony by both supporters and opponents of incorporation.

Business owner Yolanda Duarte, a member of the recently formed Save East LA Coalition (SELAC), said Molina's comments were the "elephant in the room" — a $20 million deficit for the first year of cityhood and $7 million thereafter with fewer services.

Duarte and other business owners, who greatly outnumbered cityhood supporters in attendance, were unhappy with the postponment decision.

"It's a travesty! I think any vote other than 'no' is an immoral vote. I think they know they are bearing us, I think the burden will be on them, I hope they can sleep at night," Duarte told EGP.

Cityhood's biggest supporter, the East Los Angeles Residents Association (ELARA) was also unsatisfied with the postponement, and Molina's comments.

Molina has made it clear "where she stands on the issue," ELARA President Benjamin Cardenas said.

"I'm obviously disappointed. I wish she supported the effort to, at a minimum, give everybody the right to vote..." Cardenas told EGP following the meeting.

"It's unfortunate that they didn't approve the negative declaration and direct their staff to come up with a blue print" [for making cityhood possible].

"But regardless of where they stand ... Who does it hurt to make East LA economically viable? It doesn't hurt anyone, but they don't want to be charged with the task to do that," Cardenas said angrily. He said it should be up to the county to put together a workable budget for East LA, and not them as was suggested during the meeting.

Incorporation of the 7.4 miles area bounded by the cities of Los Angeles, Commerce, Montebello and Monterey Park, and home to approximately 126,000 residents, most of them Latino, would make East Los Angeles the 10th largest city in LA County.

LA LAFCO's executive officer recommended that the commission reject the incorporation request on the grounds that financial studies concluded East Los Angeles does not have "sufficient revenues to provide public services and facilities and a reasonable reserve during the first three years of incorporation," as required by state law.

"East Los Angeles does not generate enough revenue to sustain a healthy and financially sound city," wrote Paul Novak in his Executive Officer's Report.

ELARA raised nearly $200,000 to pay for a fiscal study and audit to determine if the area could sustain itself financially should it become a city. They have repeatedly questioned the results of the study and a financial review, and say the reports authors failed to compare costs for the same services in other cities of the same size. Those cities are able to negotiate fees for service, prioritize spending and find other sources of revenues, ELARA says.

However, it is those studies that could prove to be the undoing of their cityhood crusade.

While a 2007 Initial Fiscal Analysis paid for by ELARA showed the area to have sufficient financial resources to pay for municipal services, a subsequent study, the Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis, which examined the area's revenue and costs to the county during 2009, concluded that the proposed city of East LA would have a deficit of $19 million in the first year, and between $12 million and nearly $19 million in each of the next nine years. A State Controller's audit of the same data found the proposed city is even less viable after it included $10 million more in law enforcement costs than found in the CFA.

ELARA hopes the commission will give their proposed cost-saving options serious consideration before ending their quest for cityhood. ELARA's proposals include cutting the city's transition year from 12 months to 7; renegotiating law enforcement, parks and library costs; implementing a solid waste fee and, possibly increasing the utility user tax. Wednesday they offered a new consideration, exploring if East LA would be eligible to benefit from Vernon's "community benefit account" established last year as an effort to avoid disincorporation.

In the days leading up to yesterday's LAFCO meeting, ELARA used email and social media to ask supporters to sign letters of support and attend the meeting. "Please take action now to let LAFCO know that we deserve more time to get real answers for our community," ELARA wrote on their website and in email blasts.

Opponents also stepped up their efforts to defeat the incorporation effort. They contend the area cannot sustain the current level of services and have cited concerns of increased burdens on small businesses, fear of an increase in crime and concern that a local city council would be corrupt "like in the City of Bell."

Some members of the business community, like the East LA Chamber of Commerce, have repeatedly highlighted the fact that East LA has a large number of small, mom-and-pop businesses, unlike neighboring cities that have large revenue generating resources like the casinos in Commerce and Bell Gardens, or the shopping mall in Montebello.

Nearly half of unincorporated East LA's revenue comes from property taxes, according to the CFA.

Three previous incorporation attempts — 1961, 1963 and 1974 — failed. In 1961 and 1975, a majority of residents voted against incorporation.

At the Feb. 8 meeting, the commission could disapprove the requested incorporation as recommended by LAFCO staff or grant ELARA a continuance of the hearing to further explore feasibility. It is still possible, though many believe it unlikely, that they could approve the incorporation request and direct staff to come up with a plan to make cityhood financially viable in accordance with state law.

If the commission rejects the proposal for incorporation and ends the effort, proponents can submit another proposal after one year.

Related articles:
• East LA Cityhood: Is the Journey Ending?
• Comprehensive East LA Cityhood Effort Coverage

This article originally appeared in Eastern Group Publications.

Read more EGP stories »

Part 2 of series. Read Part 1 here.

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — Kim Trần smiled as she talked about her life in Vietnam before April 30, 1975 — the Fall of Saigon. She described everyone as happy and having faith for their futures.

However, her smile fell as she detailed her experiences resulting from North Vietnam's Communist invasion of South Vietnam. It led to her husband being jailed in so-called "re-education," or labor camps.

Forced Labor

Prior to the Fall of Saigon, Trần's husband was a high-ranking officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Along with hundreds of thousands of former South Vietnamese military officers, religious leaders, former United States government employees and political dissidents, Mr. Trần was forced to labor in the camps for over 12 hours a day. He and the others were indoctrinated in communist ideology at nights, said Trần's wife.

"They were treated like prisoners," she added.

After her husband was jailed, the new regime inspected their home, Mrs. Trần said, and confiscated her car and electronic equipment.

She, too, was jailed for three days, as the authorities were conducting a thorough investigation on her husband, she said.

"I was very, very worried about my children at home without anyone to take care of them," she recalled. At the time, the oldest of her four children was only 12.

Once released, Mrs. Trần worried about how to make a living and support her family. With her husband imprisoned in the camps through 1988, she would visit every month, and bring him food.

Suzie Dong-Matsuda, a mental health professional and community volunteer, said in an interview that the men imprisoned in Vietnam's labor camps suffered starvation, abuse, humiliation, emotional and human rights violations.

One long-lasting result of the imprisonments, said Dong-Matsuda, was the unintentional abandonment of the men's families. There was a huge gap between the fathers and children they were forced to leave behind.

"We were very miserable," Mrs. Trần said. On top of not seeing their father, she went on, her children were not allowed to pursue their education and the family was oppressed under the new regime. "I was very terrified," she stated.

Dong-Matsuda explained that Vietnam's history is one of war and subjugation. The small but strategically placed peninsula has endured being invaded and the occupied by the Chinese for 1,000 years, then colonized by the French for a 100 years, followed by the civil war between the North and South, which had the massive backing of the United States from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.

"We're talking about historical and generational trauma," Dong-Matsuda said. People lost loved ones, and while some children grew up without their fathers, others were forced to participate in war efforts.

Women, like Mrs. Trần, were deprived of their partners and raised their children on their own, she said.

Then, there was the migration out of Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon. Dong-Matsuda noted that people unable to be evacuated on planes when the United States pulled out of the war in 1975 resorted to escape by boat or on foot.

Abuse and Discrimination

Many, she continued, were abused, raped and taken advantage of during the migration process. Once they arrived in the United States, Vietnamese, large numbers suffered — and still suffer — more trauma through discrimination, poverty — and intergenerational conflicts with their own children, who rapidly adapted to American customs and attitudes.

Mrs. Trần said that although she is happy now as a naturalized U.S. citizen, she does not like to talk about her experiences in Vietnam, which make her sad.

When she and her family first came to the United States as refugees in 1990, she was depressed because she felt isolated, unable to communicate with others in English.

She vividly remembers her dismay on asking a question of someone who said, "I'm sorry I don't understand you" and immediately turned away. On telling the story, Mrs. Trần mimicked the person's quick head turn — and then she burst into a few seconds of laughter. She added that she also lost a job because she was not fluent in English.

Dong-Matsuda observed that although the trauma Vietnamese Americans suffered only developed into clinical depression for some, it's important for mental health professionals and the public to understand the historical context that has made their community especially vulnerable to depression.

This article, first published in the Viễn Đông, and was written by Vanessa White as part of a MetLife Foundation Journalists in Aging Fellowship program created by New America Media and the Gerontological Society of America. It is the second article in a continuing series.

Photo from New America Media.

This story was published in New America Media.

Read more stories from Viễn Đông (in Vietnamese) »

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Lea esta nota EN ESPAÑOL: Ciudad del Este de Los Ángeles: ¿El Esfuerzo Llega a un Fin?

Often called the birthplace and center of Mexican, Mexican-American and Chicano social and political activism, East Los Angeles has long struggled with the idea of what self-determination should look like at home.

While many past and present elected officials have roots tied to East Los Angeles, either by birth or political support, the unincorporated area in the County of Los Angeles has only one directly elected representative, First District County Supervisor Gloria Molina.

For some that's a problem.

But for others, the situation has been a windfall in services and developments in the mostly Latino, working class community.

Three previous attempts to incorporate East LA — 1960, 1963 and 1971 — have failed.

The latest effort, started in 2007 by the East Los Angeles Residents Association (ELARA,) now appears to be in danger of repeating the past.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Local Agency Formation Commission (LA LAFCO) Executive Officer Paul Novak released LAFCO's Executive Officer's Report" for the Proposed Incorporation of East Los Angeles, and in it he "recommends that the Commission disapprove the incorporation request."

According to the report, state law requires that a new city should have "sufficient revenues to provide public services and facilities and a reasonable reserve during the first three years of incorporation.

"East Los Angeles does not generate enough revenue to sustain a healthy and financially sound city," states the report, which based its findings on the results of a "Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis (CFA)" completed last year, and an audit of the report by the State Controller's office. Both concluded East LA would have a deficit of $19 million in the first year following incorporation, and between $12 million and nearly $19 million in each of the next 9 years.

Proponents of the cityhood effort have repeatedly challenged those studies. ELARA argues the studies have not been forward looking, and are based on past funding priorities. As a city, they say East LA could create it's own priorities and find ways to generate more revenue.

Next Wednesday, LA LAFCO's Commission is scheduled to consider Novak's recommendation. "As outlined on Page 35 of the Executive Officer's Report, the Commission has three options: disapprove the requested incorporation (the staff recommendation); approve the incorporation, and direct staff to prepare findings and determinations necessary to approve it; or continue the matter," Novak told EGP Wednesday by email.

On Tuesday, ELARA submitted a letter to LA LAFCO requesting that the Jan. 25 public hearing be continued for four months to allow more time to examine other potential fiscal remedies on the grounds that costs in the financial reports have not been properly "vetted" as required under the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act.

"We have faithfully met every bureaucratic hurdle put before the Cityhood effort, and a decision on this issue next week would be premature and irresponsible," ELARA wrote in an e-mail to supporters. ELARA contends there are still too many unanswered questions and discrepancies in the financial data that need to be resolved, adding East LA residents deserve real answers.

Novak told EGP that it would be up to the Commission to decide whether to continue the issue to a later date. He suggested that ELARA and others attending the Jan. 25 hearing, and who are in favor of an extension, tell the Commission that during their testimony.

Novak says the agency recognizes the incorporation effort has been "an arduous undertaking ... for which the proponents are to be commended," and the CFA conclusions "do not, in anyway, minimize the tremendous efforts by ELARA."

Supervisor Gloria Molina echoed those sentiments on Wednesday, telling EGP that the "dream of cityhood" is an important one, and that the process has been long and hard, but worthwhile.

Both supporters and opponents asked her to take a position, she said, but she felt that would be unfair, and that "we needed to see the data, and let the process play out."

Molina acknowledged she was worried the data would not support the financial viability of cityhood at this time, and said she suggested to ELARA about two years ago to hold off on the CFA given the impact the poor economy was having on municipalities everywhere. "But they didn't want to wait, they wanted to proceed," she said.

Also devastating the area's financial resources was the governor's signing of a bill to eliminate the payment of motor vehicle license fees (VLF) to any newly incorporated city, which since 2004 provided a substantial "bump" in revenue to new cities during their first five years of incorporation. Had Gov. Jerry Brown not signed SB89, East LA would have received $6 to $9 million dollars during the first five years of incorporation, according to LAFCO's Executive Officer's Report.

ELARA told EGP by e-mail that it "laments the Executive Officers recommendation for disapproval as the fact finding mission is not over yet." In their request for an extension, they note that there are efforts underway in the State Legislature to address the negative impact of the VLF funding decision, but more time is needed for it to be completed.

"The question is not whether the City of East LA is feasible, but under what conditions," ELARA writes in its request for an extension.

The letter goes on to detail some of the other areas they believe would improve East LA's feasibility, including: reducing the city's transition period to 7 months instead of 12 months; reconsider law enforcement, parks and library costs; include a solid waste fee in the city's revenues; and as a last ditch effort, place a utility user tax increase on the ballot along with the incorporation question.

Molina says the area needs more tax revenue generating businesses in order to be able to support the cost of services, but just saying we should attract national retailers is not the answer. "We need to get everyone involved in that conversation," she said.

ELARA is hoping for a big turnout at the LA LAFCO meeting on Jan. 25 when Novak will present his report to the Commission.

"We can no longer afford to be silenced by the pro status quo establishment; the community deserves all parties to work together to achieve feasibility as there are many fiscal venues to do it," ELARA President Ben Cardenas said.

"The East L.A. taxpayer has the right and deserves an up or down vote on Cityhood."

Related articles:
• Comprehensive East LA Cityhood Effort Coverage

Gloria Alvarez is Editor of Eastern Group Publications. Gloria Angelina Castillo is a writer for Eastern Group Publications.

This article originally appeared in Eastern Group Publications.

Read more EGP stories »

The elimination of redevelopment agencies will not be an easy cut for cities that have become dependent on them over the years to create revenue for city services.

When redevelopment agencies all across California cease operation on Feb. 1, a successor agency, usually the city itself, will be in charge of winding down the agency's debts and assets. City officials say they will be forced to sell off all of their assets including real estate purchased in preparation for specific projects.

Some of the first casualties in the weeks leading up to the elimination of redevelopment agencies will be city and redevelopment agency employees, as well as economic development projects that were put on hold while the state supreme court ruled on whether the law passed by Gov. Jerry Brown to eliminate redevelopment agencies was constitutional.

Just before the start of the new year, city officials learned that the state supreme court had not only ruled in favor of the elimination of the agencies, but also against a provision allowing cities to keep their agencies in exchange for a significant fee.

Cities that had agreed to pay the fee in order to keep their agencies are now scrambling to deal with what some officials have termed the "worst case scenario."

They are now trying to convince state lawmakers to extend the deadline for eliminating redevelopment agencies. Senator Alex Padilla (D-San Fernando) is expected to introduce a bill this week.

In the meantime they are hoping the legislature comes up with a replacement for redevelopment, which has for the past sixty years given cities the ability to participate in public-private economic development, and to create affordable housing.

"Without immediate legislation to fix this court decision, this ruling is a major obstacle to local job creation, economic development and affordable housing. It was not the legislature's original intention to totally abolish redevelopment agencies, but the court has forced us to wait with our hands tied behind our backs hoping for a positive response from Sacramento," Bell Gardens City Manager Phil Wagner told EGP.

In many cities, budgets are being re-examined. The salaries of several employees, including top city officials such as city attorneys and city managers, are at least partially paid using redevelopment agency funds, which will no longer be available after Feb. 1.

Monterey Park officials say they may need to cut back as much as $1 million in labor costs — an equivalent of ten employees — while Montebello officials estimate they are looking at half a million dollars in cuts. In Bell Gardens, officials say 2.5 full-time jobs funded by the redevelopment agency may be cut.

"[The dissolution of redevelopment agencies] will result in significant job losses. Just about every city I know will be laying off employees very quickly," said Montebello Interim City Administrator Larry Kosmont.

Cities have long used redevelopment funds to pay for projects that generate more sales tax revenue, which can be used to fund city services, but that could change if an alternate plan is not found.

Kosmont, who sits on the California Redevelopment Association board and heads a consulting firm specializing in economic development, said taking away redevelopment is like "taking away your kid's allowance, and your kid's job." Redevelopment is a city's "most important tool for economic development," he said.

Among the projects at stake is Commerce's urban entertainment center next to the I-5 Freeway. It was expected to anchor a retail-oriented strip on Telegraph Road that is currently book-ended by the Citadel shopping outlet and the Commerce Casino.

The agency has been working on the project since the late 1990s. Last April, officials acquired the last of the 27-acres needed for the project. Commerce officials say when the agency is dissolved they will be required to sell off all of its assets, including the land on Telegraph Road.

At a Jan. 3 meeting, Commerce City Attorney Eduardo Olivo said there is a chance they could keep the properties, but "at a cost to the city."

Monterey Park City Manager Paul Talbot also says they will attempt to proceed with some of their projects without redevelopment agency funds. The agency has been working on a downtown mixed-use development and a retail center next to the Pomona 60-Freeway.

"I don't know whether or not [the projects] will be able to succeed financially," he told EGP last week.

In a past interview, Talbot said cities use redevelopment funds to attract potential developers who may not initially look at projects as profitable.

Without their redevelopment agency powers, city officials say they will find themselves less able to attract businesses to the city or to induce development.

Officials in Montebello, which leases property to Costco, had been in talks with the wholesale membership warehouse to move forward with the construction of a gas station, but negotiations between the two may no longer be possible, said Montebello Planning Director Michael Huntley.

Huntley credited redevelopment agency powers for smoothing the path for top revenue generators such as Costco and Montebello Towne Center.

He said there is no way of knowing whether these kind of projects would have occurred without the influence of redevelopment agencies, but said it was nevertheless due to the efforts by the redevelopment agency that projects like Costco and the Montebello Towne Center came into fruition.

Huntley added that a developer was very interested in bringing an affordable housing project into the city when the ruling came down. "Unfortunately we've had to put them on hold, as we cannot enter into legally binding agreements," he said.

At least one affordable housing project will continue moving forward. According to Wagner, the Abode senior homes project in Bell Gardens will not be negatively impacted by the elimination of redevelopment agencies because the project will be funded using Bicycle Casino funds.

Related article:
• California High Court Upholds Abolishment of Redevelopment Agencies

Elizabeth Hsing-Huei Chou is a writer for Eastern Group Publications.

EGP reporter Gloria Angelina Castillo contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared in Eastern Group Publications.

Read more stories from the Eastern Group Publications »