Standing in unison in the Uptown District, the epicenter of Oakland's most successful recent redevelopment, Bay Area leaders on Wednesday said they will continue to push back hard against Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to cut redevelopment agencies. Brown is seeking to  close California's large budget gap.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan; Council President Larry Reid; Union City Mayor Mark Green; Nora Davis, mayor of Emeryville; and other East Bay government officials said Brown's proposal is a short-sighted solution that if adopted would have long-term negative consequences.

Also on hand in the Uptown to voice their opposition to the Governor's proposal were members of regional business and construction trade councils, along with members of affordable housing organizations.

At the Henry J. Kaiser Memorial Park, across the street from the affordable family housing project Fox Courts, Quan and other leaders said redevelopment projects plays a critical role in the economic development of many California municipalities.

According to officials, redevelopment contributes more than $40 billion annually to California's economy and contributes an average of 304,000 full- and part-time private sector jobs in a typical year, including 170,600 construction jobs. Locally, if funds were cut, Oakland would lose $40 million in the first year and about $24 million per year thereafter.

"People underestimate the power of redevelopment developments," said Quan who proudly pointed to the area surrounding the park, including the Fox Theater and the Oakland School of the Arts.

"This is probably one of the biggest symbols of redevelopment under Mayor Jerry Brown," Quan said. "If you saw this, it looks nice enough now, but if you'd been here about 12 years ago you would of seen mostly deserted buildings, empty lots, (and) buildings that were badly damaged by the Loma Prieta earthquake and that were unusable."

Redevelopment, Quan said, successfully rebuilt the Fox Theater and turned the Uptown neighborhood into a vibrant community again.

"(Redevelopment) has totally revitalized this part of what we call Uptown, and it's made a huge difference," Quan said.

Green, who also is president of the Association of Bay Area Governments, said redevelopment dollars have also been vital in his hometown.

"Redevelopment isn't just for big cities like Oakland, or San Francisco, or San Jose," Green said. "Cities such as mine, Union City, are also a key player in the redevelopment agency area. We've had hundreds of homes built in Union City during the course of our redevelopment agency, affordable units next to BART. We've been assisting in removing blight in some of the oldest areas of the city. To say these things would have happened without redevelopment (money) in our case is absolutely crazy."

Speakers said the governor's proposal will devastate the state's construction industry, which has been hit hard by the Recession.

"Redevelopment projects generate a tremendous amount of employment, given the fact that they are extremely labor intensive and that they utilize the full range of crafts represented in the construction industry," said Andreas Cluver, secretary-treasurer of the Alameda County Building Trades Council. "And by eliminating those funds, many of those jobs that have been generated in construction will also be eliminated, putting the construction industry in even greater peril."

Officials said eliminating local redevelopment agencies also will cut deeply into affordable housing development.

"The vast majority of affordable housing we build in the state would not be possible without redevelopment," said Dan Sawislak, executive director of Resources for Community Development. His organization was the developer of the Fox Court. "If redevelopment goes away I think it's safe to say that you would slow the production of affordable housing in the state to a crawl, and that's just something we can't accept."

Quan said that while she believes there may not be enough state legislative votes to pass the governor's proposal, cities and California organizations are still working to find a compromise.

"We are still talking to the governor and trying to come up with an alternative that might give him what he needs without destroying redevelopment," Quan said.