Economic Development

With the proposed NFL stadiums being considered in both the cities of Industry and Santa Clara, 2010 could be an intriguing year for stadium development in California.  These projects would no doubt please NFL fans (though not everyone in the Bay Area is thrilled with Niners moving an hour south), and perhaps more importantly, generate thousands of jobs. 

The Santa Clara council is set to take the final steps this week towards placing a measure before its voters next June in what the San Jose Merc calls a win-or-forget-it vote.  Most watchers are saying the council will do its part, the city residents, of course, are another story -- though support is believed to be there for the project.

Read more here.

Auto manufacturing is on a long hiatus from Southern California, well, you might say California in general.  Downey is looking to change that.  From the LA Times: "The (Downey) council agreed to a memorandum of understanding with Industrial Realty Group, the manager of an 80-acre parcel where Tesla Motors Inc. is considering building an electric-car plant." 

The city is offering up to $9 million in incentives in the hopes that a plant could generate over 1,200 jobs.  "There is only upside to this deal," Councilman Roger C. Brossmer said in the Long Beach Press Telegram.

Read more in the LA Times and or the Press Telegram. 

Costa Mesa, home to the Orange County Fairgrounds, isn't so keen on the Governor's idea of selling that property, and has made a formal request to halt the sale. The council is also considering a ballot measure to require the property remain a fairgrounds -- regardless of ownership.

The OC Register wasn't to keen on that idea, but does wonder aloud why the OC Fair remains the only state asset left on the auction block.  Other properties, such as the LA Coliseum and San Quentin Prison, were discussed for auction, but found their way off the list. 

Now residents, and by extension the council, are getting antsy about the idea of the fairgrounds becoming condos or Costcos.

Read more from KPCC.

California State University, overwhelmed by high demand and dwindling resources, is set to reduce its overall enrollment by nearly 10 percent.  As bad as that is for the state's high school students, and its future, the loss of up to 50,000 students in cities across the state could have profound, immediate impacts on the local governments supported by those institutions.

Consider the case of Chico, where a 17,000 student population significantly bolsters the city population of 60,000.  Chico Mayor Ann Schwab penned a letter ot the Chancelor of the State University system imploring an exemption for CSU Chico: "I strongly appeal to you to consider the uniqueness of Chico's limited industry base, our dependence on the higher-education economy and the emerging economic partnerships between CSU, Chico and the City of Chico."

Read more about Chico in the Enterprise Record, and about the statewide issue of dimished capacity at CSU here.

As water talks progress (sorta) through the Capitol, one committee chair (Assm. Anna Caballero) decided to ask the State Legislative Analyst (LAO) to provide a report on the state's projected General Fund debt service obligations and the state’s currently authorized, but unissued, general obligation (GO) bonds.

That report is out, and the LAO reports that the state has over $130 Billion of outstanding bonds and authorized,but as yet unissued bonds.  They also project that payments on already issued bonds are likely to peak in the next decade, leading them to conclude that "Debt Service Is One of the State Budget’s Fastest-Growing Obligations." 

The LAO writes that the General Fund soon may have annual debt-service payment obligations that total about 9 percent of its revenues, and that the State Treasurer has forecasted that these payments eventually will exceed 10 percent of revenues for much of the next decade.

As such, the LAO dryly remarks that "Increasing Prioritization of Future Bond Issuance May Be Necessary."  Hint hint. 

Read the full report here.