How long can the California Republican Party (CRP) continue to ignore the elephant in the room – the Redevelopment Agencies?
The official platform, which can be found at www.cagop.org/pdf/platform.pdf, outlines several key areas that are in direct conflict with the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency's practice. I will be highlighting specific platform topics and articulate how they conflict so that Republicans will realize the incompatibility between the Party and this abusive agency.
Today, I'm focusing on the CRP's topic, regarding the economy. First, let's see what the CRP has to say on the subject.
"We believe people make better decisions than government. Free enterprise should be the guiding force, not government regulation."
That's a simple statement that implies that government does not know best. It emphasizes the importance of free enterprise.
As I have said before, the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency is well known for buying up apartment buildings, evicting the low-income families, then demolishing the site, and giving it below fair market value to a developer. Then they build a few new apartments for moderate-income residents while creating several new problems. All this is done in the name of blight, a problem that code enforcement should be addressing, and generating more tax revenue, which doesn’t always work out quite like officials say it will.
"Economic growth depends on individual liberty and enables all citizens to maximize the opportunity to retain the rewards of their labor."
"For California’s businesses to grow, thrive, and create wealth, a first-class physical infrastructure is necessary."
There are numerous other problems with the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency which are contradictory to the California Republican Party’s platform. These contradictions should cause all card-carrying Republicans to strongly question the judgment of those in charge of Fullerton’s Redevelopment Agency.
Why didn't other developers come in with their own money to invest in the City? Why didn't code enforcement step in early to mitigate those problems which the Agency now calls blight? Worse yet, some of the new housing will be exempt from property taxes which means the City will get substantially less revenue than it did previously. That is a direct contradiction to Redevelopment proponent’s argument that the City will be generating revenue. Remember, revenue produced via the tax increment (the tax increment is the difference between the old property tax rate versus the new property tax rate) is redirected back into funding for the Redevelopment Agency. The tax diversion takes funding from the City's general fund and it is used to confiscate more land and evict more families. It is a vicious cycle of dependency which must be broken. The cycle creates a vortex when 100% of the potential revenue is lost to tax exemptions and an unfair market is created. In return, taxpayers are left with , taxpayers are left with an aging infrastructure that has been neglected for decades.
"We will hold our government responsible for securing the safety of our families, for expanding our worldclass economy, and for promoting fairness and justice to every Californian."
Future highlighted contradictions to be discussed:
ETHICS BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
FAMILY
PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS
TAXES AND GOVERNMENT SPENDING
My Grandma - A Eulogy
LET'S TALK ABOUT 1914 FOR A MOMENT.
FOR STARTERS, GRANDMA WAS BORN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1914 IN HER FAMILY'S ATWOOD RANCH HOUSE.
IT IS WORTH NOTING THOSE ALSO BORN IN 1914:
JACK LALANNE
JOE DIMAGGIO
DANNY THOMAS
AND WHO DIED IN 1914:
JOHN MUIR, THE FAMOUS NATURALIST FOR WHICH NUMEROUS ROADS, PARKS, HOTELS, AND NATURE RESERVES ARE NAMED.
IT IS ALSO WORTH NOTING THAT IN 1914 WOODROW WILSON SIGNS MOTHER'S DAY PROCLAMATION AND BABE RUTH MAKES HIS MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT WITH THE RED SOX. MOTHER'S DAY AND BASEBALL- TWO OF MY FAVORITES!! (PERHAPS HER NICKNAME "BABE" CAME FROM BABE RUTH???)
GRANDMA WAS BORN INTO A PERIOD OF TIME FILLED WITH TURMOIL. IN JUNE OF 1914 ARCHDUKE FRANZS FERDINAND WAS ASSASSINATED. WITHIN ONE MONTH WORLD WAR I RAGED ACROSS EUROPE. TWO DAYS AFTER HER BIRTH HOWEVER, GERMAN AND BRITISH TROOPS INTERRUPTED WWI TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. (PERHAPS THEY PAUSE KNOWING THAT A GREAT WOMAN WAS BORNE) WORLD WAR I CONTINUED UNTIL THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES IN 1919.
ALTHOUGH SHE WAS ONLY 5 YEARS OLD, SHE SAW THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS CREATED AND THE 19TH AMENDMENT WAS APPROVED BY THE U.S. CONGRESS GUARANTEEING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN TO VOTE.
SHE LIVED THROUGH MANY NOTABLE EVENTS. LIKE THE 1933 LONG BEACH EARTHQUAKE OR WHEN ATWOOD FLOODED ALONG WITH MOST OF ORANGE COUNTY IN 1938 AND THE FLOOD-WATERS CLAIMED MORE THAN 50 PEOPLE, 43 OF WHICH WERE FROM ATWOOD! ALL OF THIS DURING A TIME THAT WE READ ABOUT IN SCHOOL AND KNOWN AS "THE GREAT DEPRESSION". SOMEWHERE IN ALL OF THAT SHE FOUND THE LOVE OF HER LIFE, GRANDPA LEO, GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL, GOT MARRIED, AND HAD KIDS!
THEN THERE WAS WORLD WAR II. FROM PEARL HARBOR TO HIROSHIMA, GRANDMA WAS RAISING MY UNCLE BOB AND MOM ARLINE. WITH AIR-RAID SIRENS AND BLACKOUTS SHE WAS A WIFE AND MOTHER. WHAT A TIME TO RAISE CHILDREN! I BET GRANDMA'S PARENTS WERE ABEL TO TELL HER A THING OR TWO ABOUT RAISING KIDS IN WARTIME.
GRANDMA WAS THERE WHEN THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA HELD THEIR 3RD ANNUAL NATIONAL JAMBOREE IN 1953. SHE SAW AIRBASES OPEN IN '42 AND CLOSE IN '99. SHE WATCHED WALTER KNOTT START UP HIS BERRY FARM AND WALT DISNEY TURN ORANGE GROVES AND STRAWBERRY PATCHES INTO DISNEYLAND!
SHE SAW THE HORSE AND CARRIAGE FADE AWAY INTO HISTORY AND SPACE TRAVEL EXPLODE BEFORE HER WITH THE FIRST LUNAR LANDING. JUST IMAGINE HOW MUCH TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST 100 YEARS. FROM TUBE RECTIFIERS TO SUPERCONDUCTORS; FROM TRANS-ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLES TO SATELLITE TV.
SHE SAW MORE IN HER 93 YEARS THAN MOST OF US WILL EVER READ ABOUT, LET ALONE LIVE THROUGH!
OF THOSE 93 YEARS IT IS MY HONOR TO HAVE BEEN HER GRANDSON FOR 35 OF THEM. SHE WAS MY MOTHER WHEN MOM HAD TO WORK. SHE WIPED MY NOSE AND PUT FOOD IN MY MOUTH. SHE LET ME PLAY WITH GRANDPA EVEN THOUGH SHE NEEDED HIM TO TAKE HER TO THE STORE. SHE WAS MY GRANDMA AND I WILL MISS HER IMMENSELY.
JUST LOOK AROUND THIS ROOM; SHE DID THIS. SHE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING SO MANY GOOD PEOPLE INTO THIS WORLD AND TOGETHER TODAY. THIS IS HER LEGACY.
A Dedication To My Loving Wife, Stacey. Thank you for all you do for me!
Brad Paisley - I Thought I Loved You Then
I remember trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mesmerized
3 weeks later in the front porch light taking 45 min to kiss you goodnight
I hadn’t told you yet but I thought I loved you then
Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.
I remember taking you back to right where I first met you
You were so surprised
There were people around
But I didn’t care I got down on one knee right there
And once again I thought I loved you then
Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.
I can just see you with a baby on the way
I can just see you when your hair is turning gray
What I can’t see is how I’m ever gonna love you more
But I’ve said that before.
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Well look back some day at this moment that we’re in
And I'll look at you and say I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then...
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