In a mass campaign mailing to city voters, Councilman Dan Gookin made this following proposal re: urban renewal:

"I'd like to see direct oversight of the city's urban renewal agency, the LCDC not know as ignite cda. This agency's affects our city budget to the tune of millions of dollars and yet they cannot tell you how they will spend their future income. To be more accountable, I support Council taking over the agency, setting up an honest plan with clearly-stated public benefits, and then appointing new board to implement that plan. We could also reduce the size of the districts and return some increment to the City to hire more first responders and to provide property tax relief."

DFO: I'd like Gookin to explain how ignite cda affects the city's budget by millions of dollars. I suspect that it will when the urban renewal districts sunset and pour millions upon millions of dollars of improved property and tax valuation into public coffers. I wonder what the value of much of that property would have been if it had developed "organically." Gookin, are you out there to explain?