Voice of the People: Fact or Fiction, You Decide: Part Three

It’s been plastered all around the city that “We have survived without RDA dollars, we can do it again.” Now let’s look at the facts. On November 7, 1978 the voters passed a ballot to become a city and on November 30 1978 the newly minted council members voted to form the city. As a new city I’m sure it took a few months to get things rolling and by Sept 27, 1979 (a little less than a year) the redevelopment agency was formed to fill the gap between what was needed and what the meager tax base provided. By July 15, 1980 redevelopment was enlarged to encompass the whole city. During our first years the city had no city hall, parks, senior center or any of the many services we enjoy today. I’m going to make the argument that the founding fathers of our city chose redevelopment to assist with the shortfall in revenue that was present from day one. Unfortunately redevelopment is not a choice we have today. The No on C crowd also has the mantra that Grand Terrace needs to be a “Contract City.” And you know what, I agree. The facts are that Grand Terrace IS a contract city. It already contracts out about 60% of the general fund budget. These contract services include Police, fire, legal services, accounting, engineering and other specialty services that can be legally contracted out. The No on C crowd would like to get rid of all but two or three city employees and run the city themselves. The city has reduced staff to a minimum already, and would put the city in a possible legal predicament by reducing staff any further, costing thousands in legal fees we can’t afford. You have to ask if a competent city staff is worth more than a few with their own addends and no practical knowledge or experience who would possibly get the city into a worse predicament than we are in now. Next week we vote on Measure C. Like it or not, we will have to live with the decision that we as voting citizens make. Let’s get accurate information and vote.