Eliminating redevelopment would put our town in peril, once again. Status quo is not what we need, given the many vacant stores, so has there ever been a Plan B established if we do lose this option?

Saddling us taxpayers with debt for the benefit of those who stand to make millions is ridiculous.
Let's get real....those who are pushing " redevelopment" are interested in making millions for
themselves and their financial interests/supporters.... not in helping the " citizens of Martinez"
Just follow the money trail !
" Progress" is not just more stores and businesses....it is far more complicated than that
and will take a housecleaning of many in power and special interests to even start down the true
road to revitalize Martinez..

Politicians often float ideas, (like Gov. Brown's proposed elimination of RDAs), to see what traction they get for their ideas. Therefore I am not quite ready jump for joy at the possible elimination at what I consider to be California's own little carbuncle. Many times in the last fifty years, the Martinez City Council has tried to foist redevelopment agencies on its citizens and each time was soundly rebuffed. There is most certainly a fight looming for the governor over this. I would advise him to check out Open Martinez or just Google redevelopment failures.

Perhaps it is time that the citizenry weigh in on this and soundly tell those that
wish to waste time and money ( ours) fighting with the Governor that we are not interested
in either their Redevelopment plans or lining special interests pockets and wasting tax
payer monies on a fight we don't want.

is anyone thinking of the next generation, our kids., what kind of town would they want to live in when they return from college. They would not want settle anywhere else if this town had some life energy and a green sustainable consciousness in its development . A town to be proud of,
We are in plan B and have been for 20 years. we need change and business management without loosing the historic character and our green hills. its time to move out of the twilight zone.

As a 20 year MTZ resident and, more importantly one WHOSE CHILDREN HAVE GRADUATED FROM OUT OF STATE COLLEGE AND RETURNED TO BEAUTIFUL MARTINEZ JUST THE WAY SHE IS, I resent the implication that my city does not have anything to offer. If the city council were doing their jobs, there would be no blight in this city. The fact is that this city allows wealthy property owners to keep their properties in blighted conditions in order to justify RDA. Come have a look at the disgusting mess that Earl Dunivan's property is in at the corner of Richardson and Buckley, the future home of Berellessa Palms. There is a recliner in a pile of garbage that has been in his front yard for over three years. Our complaints to the city yield nothing. For almost 20 years the antique house at the corner of Berellessa and Buckley was infested with train bums and drug addicts, living like rats in a maze with bathroom and kitchen sinks draining into the yard, people living in vans and tents outside. I have 10 years worth of documentation about complaints. THE CITY OF MARTINEZ HAS NEVER FINED ANYONE FOR PROPERTY BLIGHT. Ever. Why would that be? Because they NEED blight to get a redevelopment agency. It is a requirement. Same reason they let the cardboard recycling area be right on the waterfront, blowing waste into the wetlands every day.
Finally, let me say this: City of Concord RDA debt=$75 million City of Pittsburg RDA debt=$118 million. Yes, DEBT! And who benefitted? Developers

Wow Jerry , that took a lot of guts!! I guess being on the inside of things (Oakland) was an eye opener...I'm impressed!. Jerry's got nothing to loose or gain so he is about to reveal the truth about the billions sitting in RDA coffers. He finally believes it is the true cancer of California.

OK, sorry, I was writing on my husband's Patch.com account. Doh!

Bill , good point, if you cant attract tenants( because your store front is in shambles) please just place your property up for sale so people whom would like to invest money in to our town can !!!! and will .The city has a website that shows really nothing for rent or sale downtown under doing business in Martinez, oh but they show some town houses to live in for sale? the website is not managed and attempt to email anyone on the contact is non fruitful, plus this city will not even mention that we are a HUBzone...why is that? can anyone tell me , this city should have a liaison that is a HUBzone specialist to help start up companies utilize the benefits of the great tool to fund business development !!! duh ,anyone got some answers ? any council members want to comment?

Redevelopment is not FREE money. Why would we want to put Martinez in debt? Others are right about our downtown and the desire of our City Council to keep it in a state of disrepair for the purpose of blight. As a downtown business owner and property owner, not only do we keep our property looking fabulous, but we really want others to do the same in order to welcome visitors to our downtown businesses. The Kassels building next to the bakery has been vacant and an eyesore for years. It has been reported that rats crawl out of there. Where is the City? Our sign ordinance should be enforced to make our downtown more attractive. Our trees should be replaced maybe with the palm trees like in front of the hospital. Some vacant lots sit when they could be making money on a parking lot for downtown. Our parking meters prevent people from shopping downtown. Once they get a ticket, how soon do you think they will return to spend money in Martinez? Do you know you cannot feed the meters? Oops, a $38 ticket. We need a marketing plan but why market it when the City Council wants to blight it? We do not need Redevelopment - we need revitalization - like Benicia. Look how beautiful and clean their downtown looks and all WITHOUT redevelopment.

Amen to that Anne!

I have lived downtown since 1973 and worked downtown for 18 years. I have loved every minute of it. I have believed to be true everything Bill stated for many years. My employer rented from one of the prominent property owners downtown when I first started working---the rent was raised (not sure how many times), but there were never any improvements to the way the property looked (as a matter of fact it still looks the same). Proof to this point is the Thelen-Turnbaugh building. Does anyone believe it was just luck that two of the most popular and successful businesses downtown are housed in that building---the bakery and starbucks. Do you remember what that building looked liked before the renovation? I do! Probably have some photos of it. We have never had a lot of money, but upgrading our home whenever we could has always been a priority. The whole property has changed since we bought it and as a matter of fact the whole neighborhood looks so much better than it did in 1973. Imagine what the downtown would look like if the property owners had done the same thing. I wonder if that is the reason those property owners can afford to leave their buildings empty for so long (eg. no maintenance). All I know is that we cannot afford to leave our condominium rental vacant. Pride in ownership is what Martinez needs ---not redevelopment!

Having the " ordinances enforced" is not the answer. These ordinances are forced down
people's throats for the benefit of the chronic complainers and special interests. The' ordinances" , ALL OF THEM need to be required to be voted on by the entire community instead a group of city officials, special interests and self appointed , " arbitrators" of community " taste" dictating to people. As well, people are tired of paying " fees"that have little or nothing to do with the actual work involved but are really taxes on subsidizing the special interests of a few.
I have had several people tell me they have no intention of putting money into their property with improvements, etc and paying the ridiculous " fees" to building department. ,etc.
The fees should actually have something to do with the services provided by the Department/
City.. few of them do.
Many private homeowners feel the same way...especially when they see how the "ordinances"
are " selectively " enforced against people that are politically not playing ball with the City !
We need a complete cleaning out of those responsible... To those who want to dictate how
others should live.... GO LIVE in a gated community and complain until your hearts content !
The problem with Martinez is that it is controlled and dictated by a select few...and not
by the vast majority of average citizens that are sick of the special interests and Council
ignoring their wishes.

Well, I don't think we are talking about "taste" here. I refer to properties with hazardous conditions that the city lets continue because the owners are "friends" of the city leaders but, you are right Sally, the city is very subjective in their enforcement. Lets wealthy property owners slide in paying their fees while the rest of us are heavily gouged at every opportunity. Throw the bums out

I have followed the redevelopment project areas closely for over 25 years and watched billions of dollars flow. Those tax revenues were diverted from schools and local agencies partially causing the economic shortfalls we see today. It is time to close the process and let the tax revenue flow back to where it should have gone. Promoters tout INCREMENTAL REVENUE as new revenue that would not have been generated in the absence of the process. Do the research and see if that is a fact.

I have watched and analyzed the redevelopment process for over 25 years. It is time to stop the smoke and mirrors and let the billions of dollars of tax revenues flow back to schools and local agencies to help alleviate the current financial crisis.

Well let's see, who will pick the people on the committees? Oh yeah, the Mayor and City Council. And the circle goes round and round.

On the contrary, we don't need to have any permision or input to form a citizens committee!
Those who are interested in forming a committee to review the ordinances and fees structure can choose to meet together without any input or " permission" from the Mayor or City Council
or special interests. The committee can then formulate recommendations that can be
submitted to the citizenry for input and action by them. A copy can be given to the Mayor and
City Council . What they choose to do with it is their decision...but the citizenry can choose to
act on these recommendations regardless of the ' official's position. It is time we citizenry
exercise our right to decide through a democratic process what ' r ules" we live by.
The tail has been wagging the dog too l ong in Martinez. There definitely needs to be an
" attitude" adjustment that reestablishes that our local government serves at the direction of
the citizens and for their interests...not the other way around !..But it will take a concentrated
and determined effort by a group of citizens to initiate these changes... time will tell if we have
enough people who are willing to work for these changes....if not, then don't complain if you aren't willing to change it .

In the interest of viewing both sides of this story, where are comments from the mayor and city council members? I'd love to see them address the issues brought up here. Are they reading The Patch which they are being quoted in? Do they care enough about redevelopment to address concerns that are raised? Their absent voice speaks volumes.

Nice to see people wanting to get involved in their community and it's problems. The answers are there for those who really want to make a difference. The challenge lies in the "disconnect" between those who are concerned and take the time and effort to educate themselves on the issues and the voters who respond to "campaign posters" and return the same people to office. While money can buy signs it is not supposed to be able to buy votes - but apparently does. We have a long history in Martinez of allowing the special interests to have their way. The situation will only change when the voters get smarter and the community develops a stronger base of leadership and involvement along with a consensus on the future for Martinez. Then, and only then, will elected officials be held responsible for their actions.

Perfectly said Dick Duncan. It does take time to research the issues but it is our community so the time invested is well worth it.

Remember: there are many people who have been beating the drum for open gov't and an end to cronyism here in Martinez for a LONG time. They have put countless hours and dollars into making the data available over many long years. People have been trying.

The group OPEN MARTINEZ and groups before them have invested time and energy in educating the public about redevelopment. Check out the website: www.martinezca.org for information.
Also, two very worthy citizens ran for City Council in the last election to save the Martinez that we love in the hopes to make changes but were narrowly defeated.
Sally: Downtown merchants did exactly what you describe when we formed the Downtown Retailers Focus Group because we felt Main Street Martinez was out of touch with the merchants and our concerns were not being heard. We did not need permission. The DRFG has raised lots of money for our local non-profits since it was formed in September 2008 as well as promoted our businesses.
And, Sally, although I don't think I know you, maybe you should run for office to make those changes you speak of.

In these hard economic times it is imprudent to allow the City Council to railroad through a redevelopment agency without a popular referendom!

I agree. I am aware of the Open Martinez group, but not aware of the Retailers Focus
group. Nor was I aware of the fund raising for non-profits. There are many non-profit
Rescue groups and " good samaritans" that provide service to Martinez and the surrounding communities and get harassed by the " code enforcement" office , yet are paid lip service publically for the community service they provide.... Many have been ,at no cost to the City or taxpayers, taking abandoned, abused, stray and feral animals off our streets and
providing medical care , socialization and adoption . Yet I am sure the above community groups know nothing about this life saving work in their own backyards...and the City officials
ignore it.What hypocrisy !
I am sure there are people who have dedicated many long hours and are attempting to change the direction of Martinez. However, simply working to educate is not the whole answer.
Obviously, because a majority , if the election results were valid, still elected some of these people again !.In my opinion, what needs to be done, is the next step, which is to meet and
investigate what options, political and legal that are open to people who want these changes.
A referendum is certainly one tool.