SANTA PAULA : City Will Create Economic Agency

The Santa Paula City Council agreed Monday to create a city department for economic development and to hire an administrator to help guide development in the city.

By unanimous vote, the council established the new position with a salary that could reach $57,364, which would be paid from redevelopment funds.

The new department is necessary to address several needs, City Administrator Arnold Dowdy told the council before its vote. Foremost among them is the need to guide redevelopment projects, he said.

The city formed a redevelopment agency several years ago but only recently resolved a dispute with the county over its share of property-tax revenues.

“I want people to know we have a redevelopment agency now, and we need some expertise in this area,” said Councilman Les H. Maland.

Santa Paula recently approved issuing $6 million in notes on future tax revenues and must now determine which redevelopment projects would be most likely to spur economic development in the city, he said.

The new administrator would also play a role in revising the city’s General Plan. Some elements of the plan have not been revised since 1973.

Dowdy also told the council that the new administrator could address the concerns of some residents that City Hall personnel are unresponsive. “There has been the discussion and general thought that the city needs someone like an ombudsman to help the public through the maze of government regulations,” Dowdy said.

The economic development director will be asked to write city regulations that are easier for residents and the business community to understand, Dowdy said.

To partly pay for the new department, the council approved a new $500-per-unit fee for new housing that would generate $25,000 annually.