CRA and the Northeast Valley

Re “CRA Urges Slicing Valley Project in Half,” March 25.

The announcement that the Community Redevelopment Agency will scale back its attempted confiscation of 6,835 northeast Valley acres is a sucker play designed to make Councilman Alex Padilla feel the CRA is actually listening to the flood of complaints from his irate constituents.

First, Whiteman Airport and the other 2,300 [publicly] owned acres being proposed for the chopping block are a no-brainer. The agency doesn’t want government land under any conditions, because it does not generate property taxes and therefore will provide no income to the CRA.

Second, Padilla should read Sections 2.1, 3.4 and 5.1 of the CRA’s own environmental impact report that repeatedly state only three acres per year need to be developed over the next 20 years “to support and stimulate investment in the proposed project area.” That’s a far cry from the 6,835 acres being lusted after by the cash-strapped agency.

The CRA has been looting the city, county, and school treasuries for 52 years, and this year alone will be handed almost $86 million of property tax payments from thousands of the city’s private landowners who would be better served if their taxes were applied to additional police, fire, schooling, health, and other public services for residents in the entire city, including the northeast Valley.

But because the agency can’t even manage its own finances, it now is trying to siphon $1.1 billion in diverted taxes from the northeast Valley over the next 45 years. Padilla is the key player, and is the only person who can prevent the CRA from wallowing in the largest pork barrel in the city’s history. If he refuses to go along, the CRA has no place else to feed.

What a shame.

WALTER N. PRINCE

Chair, Government Affairs Committee

Northridge/Porter Ranch

Chamber of Commerce