This week we received the following two e-mails sent from San Diego, Californina by an individual who also had experiences with an "assessment district" in her city and who, along with others, sued and finally won their case in appelate court. To us it was a surprise to find out that this concept of a "Special Benefits District" is apparently another of those ideas spread like wildfire through cities in the U.S. without concern for the affected citizenry and that it takes individuals within those communities to fight city hall and the experienced, well-connected and wealthy who are behind these plans, in order to protect themselves from all that is wrong with these schemes. Maybe now Californians will indeed get what the writer from San Diego hopes for, assessment districts "that property owners really and honestly want and understand, and control themselves".
Besides the court cases linked below, there is an article referred to below with the perfect title of "The Problem With Being Special - Democratic Values and Special Assessments" by Vladimir Kogan and Mahew D. McCubbins of the University of California, San Diego. It can be found at http://pwm.sagepub.com/ Public Works Management & Policy, Volume 14, Number 1 July 2009 4-36. Unfortunately, there is a cost to download the article but it points to so many of the problems I have outlined in my series of blogs concerning the Charles Village Community Benefits District.
If you have any interest in delving deeper into what we are dealing with our "Benefits District" in Charles Village I strongly suggest you continue to read this entire post.
E-mail 1 from San Diego:
"Just read your May 2012 post (http://othervoicesfromcharlesvillage.blogspot.com/p/this-post-is-from-another-voice-from.html). Excellent writing, informative and cogent. You cited two studies, "The Sub-Districting of Cities" and "Private Governments In Urban Areas - Political Contracting and Collective Action." Attached is another publication that you might appreciate." ("The Problem With Being Special - Democratic Values and Special Assessments" ).
I follow developments in establishment and operation of assessment districts (aka "benefits districts, "improvement districts," "maintenance districts") and routine googling pulled up your blog entry. My interest stems from an assessment district that was established in my community in San Diego in 2007. Over 3500 property owners were assessed on a weighted dollar-basis vote. I and a few others sued, and after 5 years of legal battles, the district was ruled illegal in appellate court. (In California, we have a State constitutional requirement that a property assessment imposed on this weighted-majority aggregated basis, and not on a 2/3 vote of the entire community or voting public, must meet two criteria: that it pays only for special benefits to the assessed property, distinct from general benefits to the public at large, and that the amount assessed on each property is directly proportional to the benefit received by the property.)
Importantly, your analysis of the level of community awareness and participation is spot on, identical to what happened in my community, and is representative of every district I have analyzed.
Good work."
Continuation - E-mail 2:
What you won't hear from The Charles Village Community Benefits District (CVCBD) or the Charles Village Civic Association (CVCA)
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Isn't it time for a change on how the CVCBD operates
With crime still not under control and the CVCBD now having an opportunity to really do something positive, isn't it time for the CVCBD to change how it operates? Instead of picking up garbage cans to ensure tonnage numbers of removed refuse so that the City can justify the existence of the CVCBD, isn't it time for the CVCBD to start the Off-duty Police program in the community now? How many crimes will it take for the CVCBD to mount an effective crime prevention program like the hiring of the Off-duty Police? They have been talking about it for a considerable time now and nothing is happening ..... but crime. This is a time for action, not discussion and certainly not for sitting there contemplating their respective navels. Do something effective now to provide protection from the drug dealing in the neighborhood, to prevent cars being broken into, to stop the thefts from the stores in the community and possibly even save a life or two of our residents. Take a significant portion of your budget and stop trying to raise money for more $600. garbage cans and do something positive like putting an off-duty police man on the beat so that people can walk the community in safety. No more meetings, no more discussions ,,, now is the time for action.
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