From May 2007 to June 2010 (in chronological order)
Shasta VOICES has had three great years. Our organization is now 857 strong and growing! We have accomplished many of the goals we established as we began the organization in 2007. Our supporters have enabled us to have an impact on decisions being made by our local government officials. During the past three years or so, we have:
Been pro-active and persistent in our approach to gaining information about issues that affect both our economic opportunity and items of community support and concern, and questioned that information often and our loud before it was too late to affect the outcome.
Attended most public meetings that were conducted including City Councils (Redding, Anderson, Shasta Lake), County Supervisors, Redding Redevelopment Agency, Planning Commissions, Administrative Review Committees, Transportation Planning, and Public Hearings, often giving pubic testimony to voice your support and/or concerns or agendized items.
Produced a monthly newsletter, "The VOICE," both in print and online via our website, to keep you informed of the progress of issues that affect our economic opportunity.
Assisted taxpayers (and continue to assist) in having unreasonable building "conditions" removed and reduced on projects both large and small, including the "taking" of private property, excess fees, improving property owned by another, and making improvements that had nothing to do with particular projects, saving them anywhere from $4,500 to $265,000.
Resolved six (so far) unfair treatment issues at City Hall through special meetings, written requests, and challenging inconsistencies.
Created and published a "Matrix" of traffic impact and other building fees, existing and proposed, to demonstrate and heighten awareness of the cumulative effect such additional fees have on our community, and presented it in a multitude of public forums. We continue to monitor, maintain and update this "Matrix."
Delayed the "vote" of the proposed "Fix 5" impact fees and joint Shasta County/City of Redding Facilities Impact Fees, and mounted an official Challenge to the legality of such proposed fees. Successfully removed "Fix 5" from consideration, causing government officials to create another proposed fee program called SCRIP (Shasta County Regional Improvement Program), which we also challenged (see updates further down this page). Successfully removed some the the Shasta County Impact Fees from consideration; helped prevent "joint" fee structure. In total, this effort will save millions of dollars for consumers in our community.
Slowed down the imposition of fees and/or higher sales taxes to pay for a new police facility in Redding, forcing other alternatives to the forefront. Under consideration as of May 8, 2009 are potential existing retrofit building candidates to see if there would be enough money saved to actually provide suitable quarters for our public safety staff without placing an undue burden on local taxpayers.
Organized and provided public testimony on the "Lithia Deal," preventing the Redding Redevelopment Agency from using taxpayer funds to purchase private business property with no plans for its redevelopment.
Held our first "Annual Event" in July 2008 for our supporters and potential supporters, featuring well-known columnist Dan Walters (Sacramento Bee) as our keynote speaker.
Questioned the absence of necessary water quality capital improvements to serve over 8,000 residents in Southeast Redding in the current Capital Improvement Plan (CIP); a public meeting on the subject is scheduled for May 13, 2009, prior to a proposed rate increase hearing on May 19, 2009. Our goal to have much needed well head filtration improvements implemented through the CIP plan was met, albeit at a minimum level.
Produced a research paper (aka "White Paper") addressed to candidates for Redding City Council in the November 2008 elections, identifying issues for them to address based on input received from those who live and work in our community; shortened version mailed to 27,000 households who voted in the last election. Candidates responses to the questions we posed are posted on www.doyoucareaboutredding.com for all to review, and enabling voters to make an informed decision, while forcing discussion of these issues going forward.
We continue to support economically sound projects that will bring much-needed jobs to our community and stimulate our local economy, such as the Oasis Road Specific Plan. We supported the reconstruction of the existing Oasis Road interchange as Redding's #1 priority for obtaining Federal Stimulus funding, writing to our elected officials and representatives, and giving testimony about the benefits to our local economy at every public meeting available to us. Redding successfully obtained some of the stimulus funds , $2.7 million for this project!
Successfully defeated the Fix 5/SCRIP (Shasta County Regional Improvement Fee) from being implemented in Anderson, Redding, and Shasta County. We provided information, education, and legal counsel in all parts of Shasta County to clarify just what this proposal would do to our local community. This disproportionate development impact fee not only would have been imposed unfairly on a select few (new homebuyers and new businesses) for the benefit of anyone who drives on I-5, but it is unlawful under the Mitigation Fee Act (among others). We suggested that the maintenance and improvement of I-5, a federally owned highway, was the responsibility of our state and federal governments, who collect taxes and fees at the gas pump specifically for this purpose already. Our local elected officials listened to all sides of this issue and voted to kill the program at public hearings held on April 21, 2009 and May 5, 2009.
Assisted in the promotion and support of a Commercial Construction Incentive Program in the City of Redding, which becomes effective 6-1-09. This will allow those building commercial structures to spread the payment of certain impact fees out over a 3 year period, providing a financing alternative during these uncertain economic times. The City also has agreed to standardly provide fee estimates to everyone who is building or remodeling a structure in the future at our request.
We conducted and prepared a research study entitled "Privatization of Public Services"which was officially released to the public on August 24, 2009. This study, which is available on our website, is 33 pages. It has served as a catalyst to our local government officials and elected officials to examine their methods of providing public services in the most efficient, effective, and fiscally responsible manner possible.
Shasta VOICES hosted (as our 2nd annual event) the first local "Public Pension Forum" on September 24, 2009, at the Holiday Inn in Redding. The purpose was to foster a better understanding of public pension systems and provide an opportunity for open discussion. Panelists include: Gene Bell (labor negotiator for Shasta County), Marcia Fritz (VP of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility), Ed Bond (private sector consultant and private pension expert), Steve Allen (Union Representative for UPEC and Redding Employee Unions), Kurt Starman (City Manager, City of Redding), Larry Lees (CAO, County of Shasta), and Brad Pacheco, Chief of Public Affairs, CalPERS Administration (Sacramento). The event was a huge success, and has been serving as a model for similar events throughout the State.
Shasta VOICES became one of the ten "Radical 10 in 10" committee partners in December 2009. Our purpose was to create and present 10 bold ideas to stimulate Redding's economy and create jobs in 2010. Our ideas included: expanding the down payment assistance program for newly constructed homes; expanding the residential home rehab program to include moderate income residents; offer the first lot for free in the Stillwater Business Park; partner up with the City of Redding and private developers on surplus property sites; form a Redding California Conservation Corps (CCC) of 15 workers aged 18-24; increase sales tax by 1% for one year with proceeds used for infrastructure projects only; a city-owned medical marijuana dispensary and adding taxes on the product; create a volunteer citywide business incubator program that would offer free rent on existing vacant spaces for up to one year; create a local venture capital program; and expand the shop local campaign by creating a $10,000 prize through a drawing that anybody who purchased a new car or truck in Redding during a stipulated period of time would be eligible to win. Of the ten ideas, all but two were accepted by our Redding City Council, and are in process (no 1% sales tax, no down payment assistance program expansion, and no city-owned medical marijuana dispensary, but yes to the tax on the product).
Shasta VOICES stepped up and became the catalyst of the "Get Google"broad based community engagement effort to support the City of Redding's RFI application as the lead agency to become a Google test city for its ultra-high speed broadband networks, making internet access better and faster for everyone. The deadline for residents of our community to go online and nominate Redding was March 26, 2010. With a tremendous marketing and public relations drive that included creating a YouTube video, we meet that deadline, and have become one of 1,100 cities in the United States being considered as beneficiaries of this infrastructure investment to be made by Google. Their decision will be made later in the year.
On May 19,2010, the California Transportation Commission approved a grant of $22.5 million for the South Redding Six-Lane project. This will add an additional through-lane in each direction on I-5 from SR 44 to the Bonnyview Interchange. Shasta VOICES assisted the Shasta County Regional Transportation Planning Agency (SCRTPA) in this process by sending letters to the State Transportation Commission demonstrating community support for this project. We had opposed the Fix 5/SCRIP impact fee program (which was defeated in April and May of 2009) in favor of obtaining the needed funds from the state and federal governments, and couldn't be more pleased with the efforts of the SCRTPA in aggressively pursuing and obtaining these funds. The Fix 5/SCRIP impact fee program wasn't needed after all.
