San Diego County Supervisors Ron Roberts and Dianne Jacob expressed surprise on the last-minute deal by state legislators to pave the way for redevelopment financing for a new downtown Chargers stadium.
But they said negotiations between the city and county on downtown redevelopment issues weren’t dead.
Roberts and Jacob, who released statements within seconds of each other, had been meeting with Mayor Jerry Sanders’ office for months to discuss lifting the downtown redevelopment cap and building a new stadium. This morning’s news seemingly made that effort meaningless.
Jacob said the last-minute deal could negatively affect efforts to build a stadium downtown:
As optimistic as I am about the potential for a new Chargers stadium Downtown, I regret that the process may now be compromised by the appearance of last-minute dealing in Sacramento. It is critical that negotiations between the City and County take place to protect the interests of County taxpayers.
State Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, the bill’s author, said he didn’t know if the county would lose out on money because the legislature removed a cap on downtown redevelopment. Under redevelopment, the city captures a larger share of the taxes that would’ve flowed to the county government and school district in order to invest it back into a blighted neighborhood and subsidize development.
That the county’s tax money even is in question appeared to be enough for the county to oppose the deal when it first surfaced publicly last night.
But Roberts’ statement praised the measure as a job-creator and said it would make it easier for the city and county to agree on downtown redevelopment issues:
While this news was a surprise, Mayor Sanders has provided his assurances that the process still requires the City and County to negotiate an agreement that protects the county’s interests. This latest development also will significantly shorten the process and allow us to start creating jobs for San Diegans sooner.
Please contact Liam Dillon directly at liam.dillon@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5663 and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/dillonliam.