Redevelopment

CITY HALL — Funding for infrastructure improvements has been decimated by the protracted recession, city officials reported Tuesday, slashing the amount of money for projects like street maintenance and library renovations to nearly a quarter of what was once available. Officials on Tuesday told the City Council that about $5 million would likely be available for capital improvement projects next year — far less than the nearly $20 million that used to be at their disposal during better times.

Surprise, surprise! The budget holes facing Burbank, Glendale and just about every other city just keep getting deeper. It’s a sure thing that next year’s deficits will be even worse, even in reasonably well-run cities. America is undergoing a dramatic economic change. We no longer manufacture enough to produce high-paying jobs with good benefits that have fueled our consumer-driven economy since World War II. Most economists, and city officials for that matter, know our economic troubles today are not cyclical phenomena with recovery just around the corner.

I say: yes to a Trader Joe’s in Montrose (“Trader Joe’s seeks Montrose location,” Sept. 18). Thank you for this bright idea! HILDEGARD PITTERS Montrose   We have enough Trader Joe’s I love Trader Joe’s, but I already have four of them within four miles of where I live (“Trader Joe’s seeks Montrose location,” Sept. 18). Councilman John Drayman mentions Vons grocery store, but evidently is unaware, and the article omits, crucial information that a great mom-and-pop grocery store, Cordon’s Ranch Market, has been serving the residents nearby since the 1940s.

NORTHWEST GLENDALE — Northern San Fernando Road is poised to get a nearly $40-million overhaul as several infrastructure projects go before the council tonight. If approved, the projects will represent a major sea change in the redevelopment of the commercial district along northern San Fernando Road, city officials said. Among the projects is a $32.7-million bridge that would extend west off Fairmont Avenue from the Ventura (134) Freeway over San Fernando Road and the Verdugo Wash before coming to rest with its connection to Flower Street.

Single-owned eatery should be supported Milano’s Cucina Italiana has been a key component of downtown Glendale for more than 20 years (“City should not be giving out loans to businesses,” Editorial, April 5). The lack of single-owner, well-operated places to eat lunch and dinner can be partially rectified seeing that Milano’s could relocate and open in Glendale. Owner Harry Hall has put his personal effort into our community. Milano’s is a unique, single-operator restaurant that adds to our environment.

Do you agree with the current council's push for downtown housing and development? I am very much against the council's attempt to overcrowd our inner city with mixed-use development. These have been shown to be a disaster waiting to happen. Our schools, streets, police and fire departments are already overburdened in these areas. The council's redevelopment projects steal money through the tax-increment process to pay for these giveaway projects instead of encouraging the use of private funds.

After months of hold-ups and headaches, city officials approved a roughly $5.3 million construction contract on Tuesday to expand the Alex Theatre, an improvement project officials say will make the historic venue more competitive as it is weaned off an annual government subsidy. The theater's operator, Glendale Arts, currently gets $415,000 a year to manage the venue, but that subsidy is set to expire in 2015. PHOTOS: Backstage at the Alex Theatre for 'Girl Crazy' Before then, it needs three large dressing rooms, a freight elevator, loading dock, more storage space, new electrical systems and a backstage passenger elevator so it can handle larger, more technical productions and move toward self-sustainability, officials have said.

Josh Kleinbaum If Glendale's voters approve a controversial retail and residential project Tuesday, they will endorse a process the city set in motion more than 30 years ago. The Americana at Brand, the $264.2-million project by developer Rick Caruso that includes a $77.1-million public investment from Glendale, is one of a handful of projects conducted by the city's Redevelopment Agency. On Tuesday, voters must decide if that investment makes sense.

Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to disband local redevelopment agencies in an effort to funnel millions of dollars to Sacramento may just happen if he's successful in framing the political argument. Besides, redevelopment zones don't exactly scream "sexy. " The power of redevelopment zones was passed to local governments as a way to pay for the steep expense of transforming blighted areas that drain public resources into productive sectors. In Glendale, it was used to bring in the Americana at Brand.