Santa Ana promotes jobs in distressed areas even as they go after businesses

“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced today that he plans to renew this city’s (Santa Ana’s) designation as a special enterprise zone, clearing the way for 15 years of tax credits and other business incentives,” according to the O.C. Register.

Here are some more excerpts from the Register:

California’s Enterprise Zone program attempts to turn around “economically distressed” areas by making it cheaper and easier for businesses to operate and hire employees. The state has designated 7,100 acres of Santa Ana as an enterprise zone since 1993.

On Thursday, Schwarzenegger said that Santa Ana had been conditionally designated as one of eight enterprise zones for the next 15 years. The designation will become official after the city signs an agreement with the state, sets performance benchmarks and satisfies other conditions.

Businesses inside the enterprise zone can earn more than $37,000 in state tax credits for every qualified employee they hire. They can also earn tax credits on some purchases, get preferential consideration for state contracts and enjoy other benefits.

A state report issued in 2006 showed that Santa Ana’s enterprise-zone designation had produced mixed results. It found that the unemployment rate had fallen slightly inside the zone between 1990 and 2000, and the vacancy rate was down.

This makes no sense! The City of Santa Ana is trying to GET RID of businesses in some of the most economically depressed parts of the city, via the Renaissance Plan. But now the city is promoting jobs in those same areas! What gives? Do the different departments at City Hall even talk to each other? What a joke!

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"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.