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It looks likely that Healdsburg will pay $2.4 million in
“ransom” to the State of California in order to avoid losing our
redevelopment agency altogether. The state passed a budget that was
balanced in part on the concept of taking local tax dollars away
from redevelopment agencies and shifting them to state coffers.
Redevelopment is complex, but the simplified explanation is that
most properties within a redevelopment agency boundaries are
presumed to increase in value due to redevelopment. A large portion
of that increase in property taxes (called “the increment”) stays
in the community to foster more redevelopment projects.
In Healdsburg, redevelopment funds were used in the 1980s and
1990s to foster economic development downtown, with the result
being a dynamic and thriving commercial center. Redevelopment funds
have also helped working class folks get into housing in our
community, and paid for projects that benefit the community, like
street and park upgrades.
Healdsburg has been an aggressive user of redevelopment funds,
but nothing criminal has occurred. No one got millions to build a
stadium or a corporate palace. Instead, those funds have made
Healdsburg a better place, and it’s irritating to watch the state
take away property tax that we generated here with our own hard
work.
The state claims that greedy redevelopment agencies are starving
school districts by holding onto money that should go to education.
That’s not true. Part of our $2.4 million will indeed go to public
schools, but it is not extra money. This is merely a reallocation
of funds, just like the lottery. Extra funds to schools simply
allow the state to pay schools less.
If we pay the $2.4 million we will be able to “protect” about
$25 million of our own money that we can use for street projects,
the renovation of the Cerri Building into a community asset, a
permanent fix for the dangerous 5-way intersection downtown, and
much more.
The state has been reallocating (stealing) redevelopment funds
for years, and this is just the most egregious example. This is an
issue we ought to all agree upon. This is our money and the only
reason the state is taking it away is because it can. A bully who
thinks he doesn’t have enough simply takes what he wants from
smaller kids. The state is acting like the bully. I wish there was
a way we could stand up to it.
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If you like live music and want to do a good deed, buy a few
tickets to the fund-raising concert on Friday, August 5 at the
Raven Theater. Proceeds from the concert go to support the
Healdsburg Education Foundation, which sponsors enrichment programs
for elementary age students in the community.
It’s a bit shocking to realize that most art, music and other
enrichment programs are considered “extra” and are not funded by
the convoluted, ass-backwards system we have in this state. Local
students get a chance to learn about yoga, science, gardening,
nutrition, chess, drama, art, music, technology and more, thanks
solely to those of us who step up and support these programs
through the Healdsburg Education Foundation.
Healdsburg parents are putting on the concert on August 5, and
it will be a night to remember. The band is called Dgiin. My
sweetie and I discovered Dgiin at the Rio Nido Roadhouse, and
they’re fantastic. Their music incorporates elements of gypsy,
flamenco, reggae, folk and funk, and half the songs are sung in
French! It’s going to be a rollicking good time at the Raven.
Tickets are $25 and are available in town at Copperfields or online
at brownpapertickets.com. Main Street says check it out.
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Mark your calendar for Saturday, August 13 for a local art
happening in downtown Healdsburg. The Healdsburg Center for the
Arts is hosting “Art Night Out” at the arts center on Plaza Street,
from 4:30 to 8 p.m. “Tins of Imagination” features the work of more
than 85 local artists and town characters, who were each given a
tin of chocolate-covered espresso beans and asked to create a work
of art using the tin.
The artworks are imaginative and interesting and will be
auctioned off during the event, to raise funds for the non-profit
arts center. Healdsburger and County Supervisor Mike McGuire will
MC the event, there will be Brazilian Jazz, food, wine and fun.
Tickets are $20. Visit healdsburgcenterforthearts.com for more
details.
There were five different interconnected family concrete firms
out at Recreation Park last week, working on the grandstands
renovation project. The Arreguin family has been pouring concrete
in this community for generations. Members of the family branch off
here and there, but they always come together for community
projects. Healdsburg owes the Arreguins a debt of gratitude for all
they’ve done.
Retired concrete guy Bob Randolph was out there too. He’s no
relation to JR and the other Arreguins, but he’s another family guy
who can be counted on when his community calls.
Ray Holley likes watching guys pouring concrete. He can be
reached at ra*******@gm***.com.