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Agency Member Jordan asked if the tax rate for property owners in the Redevelopment Agency zone changes. Director Church stated that some of the revenues stay with the Redevelopment Agency, and other portion is dispersed to other agencies such as the County and the Schools. Vice-Chair Claire stated that when there is an increase in valuation all the participating entities will also receive a portion of that increased value. Public Comment For the record, Attorney Schricker stated that the comments are not part of the public hearing because that has been closed, but they are going to be heard as part of the Brown Act. Gary Gotfrled spoke on behalf of his father (Irwin Godfried) who has been in business (on Wilson Street) for almost 50 years, and is very frightened about this issue. This issue is a very serious concern because if this goes through he might be out of business and 25 people will be unemployed. Robert Baldwin resident of Redwood City apologized for the flyer that was sent out, since he was one of the authors of the notice. Mr. Baldwin stated the intention had been to make it alarming. He also stated that he was offended by the notice sent out by the City, which did not include a map, and was too complex to be understood by lay people. The question Mr. Baldwin posed was if it is fair for local government to support large developers instead of the long time residents. Mr. Baldwin apologized for sending out the "Notice to Move", but hopes some good comes out of it. (Another speaker donated time to Mr. Baldwin). Ken Hettman stated that he researched some facts about Redwood City on the web page and it seems like this City is doing really well. However, what concerns Mr. Hettman is that the City is giving property to large developers. Additionally, Mr. HeRman believes that the general view is that people are too ignorant to understand this tool of Eminent Domain, and that was the reason why Mr. Hettman co-authored the flyer that was sent out. While the City Council is generally doing a good job, in this case they are "selling the future" of the community to large developers. As a community it is important to get together and that was the goal of the flyer. Another goal was to promote people to come down and talk about this issue. He also stated that the notices sent by the City are not easily understood especially by senior citizens. Mr. Hettman advised everybody to visit the web site www.redevelopment, org . It was stated that the Redevelopment Agency is a money making machine since it absorbs the taxes as property is purchased. It was also stated that there is no blight in the City, but the City hires people to state that there is blight. (Two speakers donated time to Mr. HeRman). Don Jensen requested that the Council vote against this plan, or at least vote for a 6-year extension instead of 12 year. Mr. Jensen has lived in the City for over 40 years, and does REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING JUNE 25, 2001 MINUTES PAGE 6 MINUTES Book No. 58 Page No. 442