In a special meeting Monday night, the Hollister City Council voted 4-0 to designate the City of Hollister as the “Successor Agency” and “Successor Housing Agency” to the Hollister Redevelopment Agency in the event the RDA is dissolved as required by current state law.
Councilman Gomez was absent, while the others in attendance voted unanimously for the changes.
The RDA is scheduled for dissolution on Feb. 1, although there is an urgency bill in the State Senate to extend that date until April 15. The extension bill would require two-thirds approval by both houses of the legislature to go to Gov. Jerry Brown and the same two-thirds approval to override a veto. Dissolution of the RDA would result in reduced agency functions and a related reduction in staff, said City Manager Clint Quilter.
According to the staff report, the Successor Agencies will play key day-to-day roles in assuring that the existing obligations of the former RDA are properly paid and that the agencies’ properties and other assets are properly disposed of. An oversight board of seven representatives selected largely by the county, various local education districts, and taxing entities will oversee the actions of the successor agencies.
The report noted that if the city elected not to serve in this role the successor agencies would be some other taxing entity or state agency. Those external agencies may have no experience in redevelopment’s financial and land disposition matters, or may not take into account the interests of the city and local community in performing its functions.
Under questioning by council members, RDA Projects Manager Mary Paxton reported that discussions and conference calls between agencies have revealed that there are a number of unanswered questions and a lack of clarity on financial and disposition issues.
