Action: Oppose SB 1 before Aug 14th! Call, Fax and Mail the Committee!!!! [1 Attachment]

Activists List
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Hi All! More Plan Bay Area. This is the next logical step for the statists after the passing of Plan Bay Area. As many of us complained about regarding PBA, the plan needs "alternate sources of revenue" to feed it, and new government agencies are just the thing to do it. Each county or city will now be able to create more boards of bureaucrats specifically for taxing for "sustainability." I read through the document to see what it's filled with, and it has some doozies: "greater levels of intergovernmental collaboration" (against the taxpayers), "support clean energy manufacturing through tax increment revenue," "jobs plan to further construction careers," (I want one to further Accounting careers), "support grocery stores in food desert areas," and a new one I hadn't heard of before "sustainable parking standards ordinance" (remove as many parking spaces as possible so folks can circle around the block in search of a parking spot that much
more to add to the pollution, rather than decrease it). Also it talks about the bidding for "affordable housing" projects and how's this for transparency: "questionnaires and financial statements shall not be public records and shall not be open to public inspection." I'm sure there's more fodder in there, but that's all I gleamed off in my first reading.

Is the LPSF interested in opposing this bill and writing a letter of official opposition to the committee? I will be happy to write the letter myself. I know we talked a little about local versus state/national activism in our last meeting, and theoretically we should get the state LP to oppose this bill. However, the state party is pretty lame, and if we wait for them to do something, it will never happen. I wouldn't be surprised if San Francisco is one of the first counties/cities to set up a new agency to tax us to death, so I say let's fight it now. Please advise your thoughts.

Thanks!
Aubrey

P.S. Thanks to Marcy for a wonderful letter of complaint filed with the SF Civil Grand Jury last week against Plan Bay Area. I was not disappointed when I finally read it this week. Very meticulously researched, fair to the planners, but also highly critical of "gentrification of SF by fiat." Had a lot of libertarian tones without using the "l" word even once.

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Hi Aubrey and All,

I gave a quick perusal to the information available on the Internet regarding SB1 (not much because now I am so behind in my remunerative work I will have to ask for public assistance under Plan Bay Area's "vulnerable communities" provisions).

The idea of these bills, including SB1, is to replace the defunct Redevelopment Agency's role as the financier of local projects. If you do not like a local project, well too bad, because the project will not depend on your local funding vote. This website gives a list of the bills that promote "incremental financing." http://lacities.org/node/121

Interestingly, Gov Brown vetoed some previous ones; so maybe writing to him is also a good way to keep him opposed to these bills.

This website gives a suggested short letter and where to fax regarding SB1 http://goldcountrypatriots.com/2013/07/23/action-alert-stop-sb-1/

If anyone on this list is familiar with "incremental financing" as it relates to the bills in questions, and can give some good explanation as to how it works, that would be great.

BTW, one paragraph that caught my eye in SB1 is the part that a piece of property would not have to be declared "blighted" to be taken under eminent domain for the public good realized under "sustainable communities." Good luck hanging on to your house.

Marcy