Results tagged “economic development agency” from Behind the Story

Details remain scarce surrounding San Bernardino County's latest program to staunch the flood of foreclosures sweeping through cities and unincorporated areas.

On Monday the Board of Supervisors voted to enter into a contract with the Inland Empire Economic Recovery Corporation, which would use a public-private partnership to address the foreclosure problem.

The board also named Supervisors Paul Biane and Brad Mitzelfelt to sit on the corporation's board of directors.

But the non-profit corporation has yet to be officially formed, a search of the secretary of state's business database found. The names of the businesses that would be involved in the "private" side of the partnership also have yet to be divulged.

Paul Herrera, spokesman for the county's Economic Development Agency, said although the agency will be administering approximately $23 million from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program to help ease the foreclosure crisis, it is not involved in the latest move by the board.

"The two programs don't talk to one another," Herrera said. "It's different groups."
The board could approve committing $2.5 million to the corporation in the next two weeks, according to a county report.

With the median home value in San Bernardino County having plummeted to approximately $200,0000, that money would only be enough to purchase approximately 10 homes.
More than 42,000 houses in the county are in various stages of foreclosure.

The board also indicated Monday that it would like to partner with the Riverside County by means of the corporation.

Lys Mendez, Riverside County spokeswoman, said there is support for "unified efforts" with San Bernardino County to address foreclosures. But no date has been set for when Riverside County may enter into a contract with the corporation, she said.

"It's my understanding the corporation hasn't been formed yet," Mendez said. "We're waiting to see how things develop."

In September, the two counties issued a joint statement urging the federal government to create contracts with regional public-private partnerships to oversee the disposition of mortgage assets acquired by the treasury from floundering banks.

A delegation of officials from San Bernardino and the county have returned from a Mexico trade mission hopeful that the trip will result in much needed economic development.

"It went well," said Mayor Pat Morris. "They were remarkably interested. It was a door opener. It was the first meet and greet with these folks."

A story in today's Los Angeles Times on an economic report to be released today paints a bleak picture of California's economy and describes diminished hope of help coming from overseas.

As Wall Street continues to struggle, this may not bode well for the delegation of San Bernardino County officials who are headed overseas in November to drum up deals with investors. The county is spending $52,000 on the trip to China, Japan and South Korea.

According to the story in the Times, "Other sectors that might have compensated for declines in government spending and construction also appear troubled, said economist Sohn. Tourism and exports, for instance, will probably be weakened as foreign consumers face their own economic challenges.

'We're beginning to see a marked slowdown in Asia,' he noted, with Japan's economy "already in recession," China's once-torrid growth slowing to about 9% a year and South Korea's annual growth shrinking to 3.5% or lower."

Those percentages seem dismal at least considering the high hopes of the delegation to find investors willing to infuse San Bernardino County's economy with money.

An economist in the article also noted that forecast of the downturn predicts that it will last 18- 24 months.

Maybe the county should plan on delaying its trip by a year or two.

Note: The report does not appear to be available online, but if it is posted, we'll link to it.

 

 

As the stock market continues its tailspin and financial firms plead with Congress for a bailout, San Bernardino County officials are planning a trip to Asia with the hope of striking some deals to infuse money into the local economy.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved $52,000 to send a delegation of seven officials in November to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul, South Korea. The delegation will be accompanied by representatives from local businesses.

This will be the fourth overseas trip the county has made since 2006 to foster international trade.

The officials from the Economic Development Agency, which organizes the trips, claim the overseas missions have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in trade for the county.
The agency's Administrator Mark Dowling told the board the trip will foster foreign direct investment in the county.

San Bernardino County released its response today to a scathing grand jury report that sharply criticized a number of county department practices, from sending elected officials on costly trips to China to political activity being conducted by the Assessor's Office.

Here's some of the key highlights from the report:
- In response to the hefty severance package obtained by Jim Erwin when he left the assessor's office, the county has declined to institute a policy capping such packages. The county maintains that settlements are based on potential legal claims and a policy would leave the county vulnerable to costly litigation.

-In response to the grand jury suggestion that firewalls be installed to prevent political activity on county computers, the county maintains that no sufficient technology exists. An existing policy allows the county to review the e-mail traffic of employees.

- The grand jury had suggested limiting the number of elected officials sent on trade missions to foreign countries to conserve taxpayer dollars. The county disagrees with the recommendation, siting the importance of elected officials in striking trade deals overseas.

-Following grand jury concerns that the county was not adequately tracking welfare fraud, the county agreed to compile and maintain a report on welfare fraud and track cost impacts on the county.