OPEN MARTINEZ - Preserve. Promote. Enhance. Unite.

Letter to the Editor

On March 23, the Martinez City Council had a rather unpublicized, unrecorded retreat at the Senior Center. One of the chief purposes of the retreat was to establish a Redevelopment Agency (why secretly? Certainly the topic is worthy of a real City Council meeting). According to city manager, Phil Vince, his office has a 40,000 (tax dollars) budget for “education” on this issue. Since the last 7 attempts to pass an RDA has failed the City Council apparently thinks the voters need “schooling”. Questions were asked about the spending of tax dollars to sway voters to vote yes on a RDA. Mr. Vince quickly clarified himself by stating that the city would simply present the pros and cons of the issue. When the City Council and Mr. Vince were asked to identify some of the “cons”, they could not.

I would like to think that the city would prefer to spend our tax dollars wisely and fairly by presenting to the voters clear and impartial facts about the RDA. I am recommending that a member of the city council or city staff (perhaps not Janet Kennedy since her husband works for the RDA) attend the MORR conference, Municipal Officers for Redevelopment Reform, at the end of this month in Long Beach, California. MORR has been closely following this issue for the past ten years and can clarify for the city any relevant concerns they should address. Total cost of the conference is 65.00 dollars, including breakfast and lunch. This would be a great opportunity for a conscientious city representative to walk away from the conference with a list of challenges and begin their own thinking about how to best address them. For additional information on the conference visit here: MORR Conference Info

Marlene Haws
Concerned Citizen
305 Allen Street
Martinez, Ca. 94553
925 370-6553