Redevelopment

Although Victor Valle and Rudy D. Torres make some valid points about the need for economic empowerment of the Latino community (“Fighting With Blacks for Jobs Is Self-Defeating,” Opinion, Aug. 2), they are off base about redevelopment, particularly in the City of Commerce.

There is no “ghost government,” as they claim in Commerce. Redevelopment decisions are made by politically accountable elected officials: the five Commerce City Council members who also sit as the Redevelopment Agency.

Commerce is being transformed from (not to, as the authors assert) an industrial landscape because of economic factors. As major manufacturers such as Chrysler and Uniroyal closed their doors, redevelopment helped open doors for new business.

The property tax that goes to redevelopment agencies to fund future projects is not being diverted from anything else--it would not even have been generated if not for the redevelopment projects.

Of the redevelopment funds spent in Commerce last year, 38% went for housing, close to 31% for public improvements, and 31% to commercial development. While private developers naturally profit from their projects in redevelopment areas, they build what the public officials require for the benefit of the city.

In Commerce, redevelopment is producing jobs, improving the physical environment of the city, creating a safer community, and promoting economic vitality.

ROBERT J. CORNEJO, Mayor, City of Commerce