On the evening news last night:
Emeryville Struggles As Shopping Lags
EMERYVILLE (CBS 5) ― The economic downturn has spelled trouble for many Bay Area cities, but one of the hardest hit has been the shopping enclave of Emeryville. Click here for the story.
Channel 5 is still not dealing with the real problem and that is the redevelopment agency and why Emeryville depends so much on retail sales tax. The Agency has: the exclusive use of all increases in property tax revenues, the power to sell bonds secured against future tax incremments and may do so without voter approval, give public money directly to developers and other private businesses, and condemn private property to transfer to other private owners (Redevelopment: The Unknown Government).
I just read about Emeryville’s financial situation in the Chamber of Comerce paper and they say we’re pretty much OK and the Council has been making all the right development choices. I know they think we need a lot more malIs and big box retail in town. Is the media wrong about this ? What does the Chamber and the Council know that everyone else doesn’t?