In the wake of San Diego’s redevelopment scandals, a raft of local groups is hosting a forum to discuss the city’s neighborhood revitalization efforts.
The forum will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 10 at the War Memorial Building on Park Boulevard, and is being hosted by the Center on Policy Initiatives, the League of Women Voters, Citizens Coordinate for Century 3, and the MAAC Project.
From a release put out by CPI:
“With our redevelopment agencies reeling from scandals and creation of a new agency proposed, we need to step back and reflect on how redevelopment can best improve our neighborhoods,” said Stephanie Monroe, CPI Organizing Director. “What is conspicuously missing is the voice of community residents. Before we make permanent changes, we need to pause and listen to these voices.”
Speakers at the forum will explain how redevelopment affects city residents and the problems with the current system, and participants will be invited to voice their concerns and priorities for reform.
The forum comes on the heals of scandals at the Southeastern Economic Development Corp. and the Centre City Development Corp., two city of San Diego nonprofit agencies that use tax money to beautiful and subsidize development in specific neighborhoods. The nonprofit structures are unique in California and the current troubles at the agency can in some part be blamed on the lack of oversight they’ve received from City Hall.
At the same time, the city is considering restructuring its remaining redevelopment activities into a similarly structured organization.