Ask Why...Why Did They Do SB 782?

It is not just the question in the Enron story.

Enron, the energy darling on the late 1990s and early 2000s before the company spectacularly failed had an advertising campaign saying “ask why.”

Well, the company was stripped of its assets, the pipelines, which made money, and became a pump and dump company essentially. Nobody asked why.

I have always said in politics, you should “ask why.” Now, we are seeing it in Altadena. SB 782. I am getting the questions constantly. What do I need to know about SB 782? I explain it, then people say, wait, what? Why do we not get a veto. Why do we not get a protest?

Then I get the call from my friends who are “in the know.” These are people who understand the financial questions. They understand the policy. They say the same thing. Why? Why did they need Climate Resilience Districts (CRDs) when there are already Enhanced Infrastructure Finance Districts (EIFDs). They are the same except the protest. EIFDs have a mechanism which makes for a third meeting in the authorizing law, and that third meeting requires a vote on the financing plan. In other words, if things were not kosher, you have a chance to stop it before it is financed. EIFDs function like all debt in California. Before a special area or debt requirement is authorized, the citizens or residents, the ones who pay for it, get that chance to say “yes” or “no.”

So “why” did SB 782 remove the protest feature? We all know the reason. There are things which can now happen that would have been otherwise unavailable. Kinda like turning your entire town into a redevelopment project, totally dependent on anything and everything to raise the property tax value. Sure it is not a separate tax (yet, but that will happen when we fall short of the funding requirements for the infrastructure needed), it is a tax increase because the new values will be higher. Ask why? Why is it being done the way it is? Who benefits? The CRD simple. It is understood. The restrictions are removed. It is all “they” have.

But then there is another question that comes to mind in all this. When you ask why, you realize something else is going on. Why EIFDs? Have they ever been done on the level we are envisioning? Has the media asked this question? The largest deployment of EIFD Tax Increment Financing, and is it even possible. Do the resources exist to get it done?

Why indeed. Why the CRD? Why the new legislation? And why now? Why do we need it? Why no oversight? And, why are there people who are insistent on the model? Do they not understand it or is there something else?

Ask why. It is amazing what will happen when you do. Media- the breadcrumbs are here to follow. Community Groups, why are you not asking why? Citizens/residents, you can see it all. Ask why. The time has come. Do what Essie Justice did today. They kicked ass. They made it happen. They asked why. I was there. I saw it. It was impressive. We need more of it.

Why SB 782? Stop it before it starts. We are at the end.