NEWS
By Bradley Zint | July 3, 2013
Costa Mesa officials announced Tuesday that, after unanimous approval from the council, the city will sue to recover millions of dollars taken from its dissolved redevelopment agency. Officials and attorneys could not confirm many details of the lawsuit, including the defendants, since the matter was discussed in a closed session. City Attorney Tom Duarte said Tuesday that nearly $12.5 million associated with Costa Mesa's so-called RDA is at stake. The city's RDA and all others throughout the state were disbanded last year as part of an austerity measure supported by Gov. Jerry Brown.
NEWS
By Bradley Zint | May 10, 2013
The coming week is a busy one for Costa Mesa government, with at least seven meetings scheduled, two of which include the City Council going over future goals and objectives with other city groups. The council and Planning Commission are set to discuss planning goals in a joint meeting at 4:30 p.m. in Conference Room 1A on the first floor of City Hall, 77 Fair Drive. The commission in its regular meeting at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers will go over various developments in the Eastside, including a proposed five-unit condominium complex at 2573 Elden Ave. and two homes on an empty 8,250-square-foot lot at 2590 Orange Ave. City staff are recommending that the commission deny the Elden project, partially because the developer is seeking an unjustifiable variance from the city's open-space requirements.
NEWS
By Joseph Serna | July 12, 2012
The Costa Mesa City Council agreed at an emergency meeting Thursday to pay the state $1.4 million it has asked for in property tax revenues from the city's dissolved Redevelopment Agency. "It's our belief we don't owe them anything," Finance Director Bobby Young told the council. "It's very unusual. I think it goes to the intent of the state to dissolve redevelopment agencies in the quickest manner possible, to claw back money they see fit. " Every RDA in California was formally dissolved Feb. 1. Costa Mesa's replacement, the Successor Agency — the City Council by another name — kept about $1.5 million in reserves from the RDA. The city will deplete that reserve so it doesn't have to dip into the city's general fund to make the payment, Young said.
NEWS
By Joseph Serna | February 1, 2012
Cities statewide saw their redevelopment agencies officially dissolve Wednesday after a Sacramento County judge refused to put a hold on the process during a court hearing last week. Attorneys from the Costa Mesa-based Rutan & Tucker law firm argued Friday that portions of a state law that dissolved the RDAs were unconstitutional and exceeded the governor's powers during a fiscal emergency. They were seeking an emergency stay on the law, which took effect Wednesday. The firm represented a coalition of 10 Southern California cities that did not include Costa Mesa.
NEWS
By Patricia Whitaker | January 21, 2012
In an effort to balance the state budget, the California Supreme Court voted at the end of December to eliminate redevelopment agencies across the state effective Jan. 31. It further struck down a separate law that would have allowed agencies to stay afloat if they paid more than $1 billion to the state. The decision has understandably caused a reverberation of panic from proponents desperate to find an amicable way to salvage redevelopment in some form and stave off the chaos that will surface as a result of dismantling the agencies.
NEWS
By Joseph Serna | January 18, 2012
COSTA MESA — Forced to choose between handing to the county the responsibilities for the city's affordable housing or creating a city-run housing agency, the City Council on Tuesday elected to keep the responsibility in-house. The Costa Mesa Housing Authority will now oversee $9 million in affordable-housing accounts. The accounts used to belong to the city's redevelopment agency (RDA) until it was dissolved by Sacramento legislation, which cities challenged but the state Supreme Court upheld in December.
NEWS
By Joseph Serna, joseph.serna@latimes.com | August 26, 2011
COSTA MESA — The Redevelopment Agency (RDA) approved reporting to the state next week more than $29 million of its unavoidable financial obligations in the wake of legislation that may force the agency to dissolve. The report, called an Enforceable Obligation Payment Schedule (EOPS), shows state officials what Costa Mesa could be on the line for if the city chooses to fold the agency as opposed to paying Sacramento for the agency to remain intact — an option available under two laws passed this summer.
NEWS
By Joseph Serna, joseph.serna@latimes.com | August 24, 2011
COSTA MESA — The city will have an emergency meeting of the Redevelopment Agency on Friday to cement what mandatory commitments the agency has and can't back out of in case it has to fold. Costa Mesa officials are acting fast on the heels of Sacramento legislation that could dissolve RDAs across the state, a lawsuit challenging the two laws and a state Supreme Court ruling on the lawsuit temporarily blurring the picture for cities statewide. The effects of Assembly bills 1X 26 and 1X 27 are complicated, said Costa Mesa's special counsel, Celeste Brady.
NEWS
By Sarah Peters, sarah.peters@latimes.com | August 9, 2011
IRVINE — The City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved an ordinance that saves the Irvine Redevelopment Agency (RDA) from dissolution. The voluntary program opts the RDA into an alternative redevelopment program, thus bypassing any closure required by the Dissolution Act, which was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown into law June 29. The funds will be paid through the RDA, not the city's general fund, said Mark Asturias, city housing and redevelopment manager. The City Council also approved the city staff's recommendation to appeal the contribution amount — about $2.6 million for the fiscal year 2011-12 — which was determined by a state finance department alternative formula and varies by city.
NEWS
By Joseph Serna, joseph.serna@latimes.com | July 14, 2011
COSTA MESA — The Costa Mesa Redevelopment Agency's deadlock vote in March to pay back more than $1 million into the city's general fund was beneficial in the long run, city officials said this week. Some residents accused agency members — who are also the City Council members — of refusing to pay down $1.3 million of more than $10 million the agency owes the city's general fund from a loan. Critics claimed the agency members were purposely keeping money out of the general fund gap to partially justify the layoffs at City Hall.