Graphic: Altadena Redevelopment and Proposition 22

On tomorrow's election ballot is Proposition 22, which is heavily backed by municipal government officials who want to avoid seizures of local redevelopment funds that happened in 2009.

Redevelopment funds go towards revitalizing economic areas within a city.  Municipalities have a vested interest in finding projects to use the funds for, because if governments don't apply to use the redevelopment money it is kept by the county government.

Altadena is in a different situation, as it has no city government.  Instead, Altadena redevelopment funds come through the county's redevelopment agency, the Community Development Commission . 

The funds can only be applied to the West Altadena Redevelopment Area, and the entirety of Altadena funding in the last five years have gone towards developing the Lincoln Crossing project at Lincoln Avenue and Woodbury Road (there have also been some low-income housing programs the county has spent on, but they come from a separate redevelopment fund).

Compared to most other area cities, Altadena has seen much less redevelopment spending ($2.8 million in total) in the last five years.  Still, the passage of Proposition 22 is important to Altadena's economic future, says Cordé Carrillo the director of the economic development division of the Community Development Commission.

"Presently, the completion of the Lincoln Crossing Project  and the development of the area near Windsor and Woodbury (including the site of the former Rose Bowl Motel) are priorities," Carrillo wrote in an email.  "If the State takes additional redevelopment funds these projects could potentially be further delayed or halted."

Altadena could also be affected by the loss of other local funds included in Proposition 22, but overall it would likely be less affected than other neighboring towns which have had much more redevelopment funding to spend.  Some neighbors, like La Canada Flintridge and South Pasadena, have spent almost nothing, likely because their already have strong commercial areas.

On the other hand, Sierra Madre has spent over $14 million in seven years, according to the Los Angeles Times, despite having a very successful town center.

The below chart compares the past five years of Altadena redevelopment spending compared to a seven-year period for the other agencies, but even with that difference, most neighbors are benefiting much more from redevelopment than Altadena.