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AROUND THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
MountainViews-News Saturday, October 9, 2010
DUARTE
GREATEST HITS: Local Government Bills During 2010
MONROVIA
Public Hearing
Set on Duarte
Development
Code, Zoning
Map Draft
A two year-long public process
to update the City of Duarte
Development Code and Zoning
Map is coming to a conclusion.
The Duarte City Council will
hold a public hearing on Oct.
12 at 7 p.m. to review the final
draft provisions for proposed
zone districts, permitted
uses, development and design
standards administration
and implementation of the
development code and zoning
map changes. The hearing, in
which the public is invited to
participate with questions and
comments, will take place at
Duarte City Council Chambers,
1600 Huntington Dr.
The recently completed final
draft of the new Development
Code would replace the current
Zoning Code, originally
adopted in 1962 and last
updated in 1991. It is intended
to create a modern, streamlined
development regulation
that will attract economic
development, result in high-
quality construction, and serve
as a functional tool.
The accompanying
draft Zoning Map reflects land
uses and vision established by
the 2007 General Plan.
Since project start-up, more
than a dozen workshops and
community meetings, and
public hearings have been
held, including workshops on
zone districts, hillside, parking,
residential uses and sign related
issues. The City Council
held a public workshop on
September 14 and the Planning
Commission held two public
hearings in July and August
to review the code and zoning
map, and to receive public
input. Community input from
these workshops and meetings
has been incorporated into
the new code. To assist with
the process, the City hired
the consulting firm of Hogle-
Ireland.
The public is encouraged to
contact the City of Duarte
Planning Division at (626) 357-
7931, ext. 230 or 235, prior to
the City Council meeting, to
learn more about the proposed
changes or to arrange to
review the Draft Development
Code. Copies of the draft
Development Code and Zoning
Map are available for public
review at the City Planning and
Building counter, as well as the
Duarte Library.
The draft may also be viewed on-
line on the City’s website at www.
accessduarte.com.
(Monrovia City Manager’s Report)
This was an eventful week no
doubt, and it provides a great
study for any practitioner or
student of public administration
and/or municipal government.
This chapter of the story began
last Wednesday, September 22,
as a petition containing 562
signatures was submitted by
Cyrus Kemp and John Jogminas
to the Office of the City Clerk.
The reason for the petition was
to repeal a lawfully enacted
tax on real property that was
established by Monrovia voters
in 1950. This property tax
override - levied at a rate of 1/8
of 1% of assessed value - was
established expressly for the
purpose of funding pension
costs for municipal employees.
Mr. Kemp, and more recently Mr.
Jogminas, have each been vocal
critics of the City of Monrovia.
They decided earlier this year
that, along with a third resident,
they would seek to repeal the
tax. They also proposed an idea
to require a vote of the electorate
to ratify any significant land use
decision made by the Council.
Previously, Mr. Kemp has
alternately tried to push other
ballot initiatives; most notably,
measures drafted by the attorney
for the Monrovia Police Officers'
Association during and after the
City's contentious negotiations
with the union in 2008.
The property tax override
generates about $4.2 million per
year that funds a major portion
of the City's retirement costs. As
the City of Bell scandal unfolded
this summer, and as the tone
of federal and State election
campaigns got nastier and
alienated more and more voters,
the petitioners moved forward
with gathering signatures
presuming a groundswell of
support for their cause.
Now, if you strongly disagree
with the City of Monrovia and
most everything it does, and you
are wholly focused on repealing
this tax, it might not occur to
you what the consequences of its
repeal might be. Then again, you
just might not care.
Based on the feedback from
residents who were contacted
during the signature gathering
period, however, it was nice to
know that lots of Monrovians
do indeed care what happens
to their community and the
services they depend on.
Obviously, no one likes to pay
taxes; but I think most folks
in Monrovia see the nexus
between the local taxes they pay
and the quality level of service
they receive.
For example, the repeal of this
tax would not affect the City's
existing pension commitments
and liabilities - after all, this is
not a pension reform initiative.
(Besides, the City is already at
the threshold of restructuring
retirement benefits. And, I
might add, we were on this path
even before the Bell debacle.)
To the contrary, the success of
this proposed ballot measure
would essentially mean that
the City would have to cut
an additional $4.2 million
in services to make good on
such existing commitments.
Keeping in mind that 2/3 of
the General Fund budget is
police and fire services, the
likely cuts would either be
the wholesale elimination of
"quality of life" services, such
as the public library, parks and
children's recreation services,
or the contracting out and
downsizing of our Police and
Fire Departments.
Given these drastic and
negative consequences, as well
as the overwhelmingly positive
feedback from Monrovia
residents via last year's Citizen
Satisfaction Survey, neither
the Council nor I were worried
that the voters of Monrovia -
who have recently supported
taxes for saving the hillsides,
renovating public schools, and
building a new public library -
would cut off their nose to spite
the community's face.
The proposed measure
deserved attention - to be sure
- given that, under the terms
of another initiative (Prop 218),
the petitioners only needed to
secure the signatures of 397
registered voters. And with
the existing political climate,
it seemed that garnering the
requisite number of signatures
would be easy enough.
Still, there were other
issues involved here; and
the petitioners' inability to
understand and appreciate them
- despite being wholly aware of
them - ultimately damaged their
effort.
First, was the City's position
that any repeal of the 1950 tax
would be challenged by the
City as unconstitutional under
the law. Unfortunately, the
Pasadena Star News was unable
to represent the key facts of the
City's argument.
Suffice it to say that, under the
US Constitution, a government
(or even the electorate itself) may
not enact a law that materially
damages the terms of an existing
agreement. This "Contract
Clause" is a fundamental tenet
of constitutional law.
How does it apply here?
The City Council, pursuant
to the 2008 labor agreement
with the Monrovia Police
Officers' Association (MPOA),
authorized the sale of Pension
(continued on page 10)
Now that the Governor has
finished acting on the bills that
the Legislature passed in 2010,
I want you to know about some
of the more interesting bills that
the Senate Local Government
Committee worked on this year.
The urgency bills take effect on the
day they were chaptered; regular
bills will take effect on January 1,
2011.
These brief summaries cover
a selection of the bills that the
Committee has reviewed. If you
want to read the Committee’s bill
analyses or get a copy of a bill,
please go to the Legislature’s official
website www.leginfo.ca.gov. You
can also use that website to retrieve
other bill analyses, official histories,
voting records, and any veto
messages.
From the Senate Committee
on Local Government, Senator
Christine Kehoe, Vice Chair
Local Finance & Infrastructure
SB 85 (Cogdill) modifies the
property tax allocation formulas
to increase annual allocations
to specific counties. Status:
Signed; Chapter 5, Statutes of
2010.
SB 1340 (Kehoe) authorizes
contractual assessment
financing for electric vehicle
charging infrastructure. Status:
Signed; Chapter 649, Statutes of
2010.
SCA 18 (Liu) exempts
stormwater and urban
runoff management fees or
charges from voter approval
requirements. Status: Died on
the Senate Floor.
AB 44 (Blakeslee) authorizes
contractual assessment
financing for renewable
energy systems installed under
electricity purchase agreements.
Status: Signed; Chapter 564,
Statutes of 2010.
AB 900 (de León) refunds
property tax revenues collected
by an excessive extraordinary
property tax rate imposed by
the City of Bell. Status: Signed;
Chapter 223, Statutes of 2010.
AB 1755 (Swanson) authorizes
contractual assessment
financing for seismic
strengthening improvements on
real property. Status: Vetoed.
AB 2182 (Huffman) authorizes
contractual assessment
financing for septic and sewer
improvements on real property.
Status: Vetoed.
AB 2554 (Brownley) authorizes
the Los Angeles County Flood
Control District to impose
property-related fees in
unincorporated areas. Status:
Signed; Chapter 602, Statutes of
2010.
Local Powers & Governance
* SB 501 (Correa) requires
local officials and executive staff
to file annual compensation
disclosure forms. Status: Died
on the Senate Floor; Unfinished
Business.
SB 841, SB 842, and SB 843
(Senate Local Government
Committee) are the annual
Validating Act. Status: The
Governor signed SB 841
(urgency) as Chapter 16, SB
842 (urgency) as Chapter 171,
and SB 843 as Chapter 172; all
Statutes of 2010.
SB 879 (Cox) revises the
procedures for counties’ design-
build contracting powers and
extends the sunset date until
January 1, 2016. Status: Signed;
Chapter 629, Statutes of 2010.
SB 894 (Senate Local
Government Committee) is
the annual Local Government
Omnibus Act, making
24 relatively minor and
noncontroversial changes to
the state laws affecting local
agencies’ powers and duties.
Status: Signed; Chapter 699,
Statutes of 2010.
SB 902 (Ashburn) reduces
the population threshold for
counties that can regulate fire
companies from 1 million
to 400,000. Status: Signed;
Chapter 67, Statutes of 2010.
SB 1005 (Cox) allows the Tahoe
Forest Healthcare District and
one other healthcare district
to use design-build contracts.
Status: Failed in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
SB 1042 (Walters) repeals the
1917 law that allows counties to
condemn private property for
military bases. Status: Signed;
Chapter 69, Statutes of 2010.
AB 155 (Mendoza) requires
local public entities to get
CDIAC’s approval or a
completed state audit before
filing federal bankruptcy
petitions. Status: Died on the
Senate Floor.
AB 827 (De La Torre) requires
local governments to have
performance reviews before
giving raises to executive
staff and prohibits automatic
contract renewals and raises.
Status: Vetoed.
AB 1451 (Ammiano)
authorizes counties to issue
local identification cards that
meet statutory criteria. Status:
Vetoed.
AB 1668 (Knight) extends the
time for city councils to fill
vacant elective offices from 30
days to 60 days. Status: Signed;
Chapter 38, Statutes of 2010.
AB 1671 (Jeffries) allows
county supervisors to fill a
vacant board of supervisors seat
if the governor does not appoint
a replacement within 90 days.
Status: Vetoed.
AB 1955 (De La Torre) requires
local governments to adopt
executive staff contracts in
public and stops redevelopment
activities in cities with excess
compensation. Status:
Failed on the Senate Floor
(reconsideration granted).
* AB 2064 (Huber) requires
local governments, state
constitutional officers, and
the Legislature to post their
salaries and their employees’
salaries online. Status: Died
in the Senate Governmental
Organization Committee.
Land Use Planning &
Development
SB 959 (Ducheny) reestablishes
the Office of Planning and
Research’s permit assistance
duties. Status: Vetoed.
SB 1019 (Correa) extends the
sunset date on the procedures
for cities and counties to release
subdivision performance
securities to January 1, 2016.
Status: Signed; Chapter 174,
Statutes of 2010.
SB 1141 (Negrete McLeod)
restores the requirement that
every county with a public use
airport must have an Airport
Land Use Commission, with
exceptions. Status: Vetoed.
SB 1174 (Wolk) creates
the Future Sustainable
Communities Pilot Project to
pay for general plan updates for
disadvantaged communities,
using Proposition 84 bond
funds. Status: Died in the
Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
SB 1207 (Kehoe) expands
the fire safety planning
requirements in local general
plans’ safety elements. Status:
Vetoed.
SB 1445 (DeSaulnier) allows $4
increase in vehicle registration
fees to pay for regional planning
activities and expands the
membership of OPR’s Planning
Advisory and Assistance
Council. Status: Died in the
Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
AB 987 (Ma) expands the
maximum area of a transit
village development district.
Status: Signed; Chapter 354,
Statutes of 2010.
AB 1919 (Davis) requires
subdivided lots to pay county
survey monument preservation
fund fees. Status: Died in the
Senate Rules Committee.
AB 1965 (Yamada) extends the
sunset date on the procedures
for lot line adjustments on
Williamson Act land to January
1, 2013. Status: Signed; Chapter
60, Statutes of 2010.
AB 2530 (Nielsen) allows
counties to shorten Williamson
Act contracts, revalue the
contracted land, and receive
the increased revenues. Status:
Signed; Chapter 391, Statutes of
2010.
AB 2650 (Buchanan)
prohibits medical marijuana
establishments within 600 feet
of schools. Status: Signed;
Chapter 603, Statutes of 2010.
AB 2754 (John Pérez) grants
civil service status to OPR’s
clearinghouse and planning
staff, and designates OPR as the
state’s military liaison. Status:
Vetoed.
Redevelopment
AB 1641 (Hall) clarifies that
public housing may be included
within redevelopment project
areas. Status: Signed; Chapter
665, Statutes of 2010.
AB 1791 (Monning) allows
redevelopment agencies
to subsidize commercial
development on vacant land at
the former Fort Ord. Status:
Vetoed.
AB 2531 (Fuentes) allows
redevelopment agencies to pay
for business development and
job programs until January 1,
2018. Status: Vetoed.
LAFCOs & Boundary Changes
SB 1023 (Wiggins) creates
expedited procedures to convert
Resort Improvement Districts
and Municipal Improvement
Districts into Community
Services Districts. Status:
Signed; Chapter 68, Statutes of
2010.
AB 419 (Caballero) meshes the
election laws with the Cortese-
Knox-Hertzberg Act. Status:
Signed; Chapter 35, Statutes of
2010.
* AB 711 (Calderon)
appropriates $45,000 as a
loan to the East Los Angeles
Residents Association to pay for
the proposed city incorporation
proceedings. Status: Signed;
Chapter 25, Statutes of 2010
(urgency).
AB 853 (Arambula) expands
planning for, and expedites city
annexations of, disadvantaged
communities. Status: Vetoed.
AB 2795 (Assembly Local
Government Committee)
makes nine changes to the state
laws affecting LAFCOs. Status:
Signed; Chapter 47, Statutes of
2010.
* This bill did not come to the
Senate Local Government
Committee.
Interim Hearings
On October 20, the Committee
will hold an oversight hearing
in Santa Ana on “Transparency
& Accountability: Pursuing the
Public’s Right to Know,” and
explore proposals to require
public officials to report their
compensation.
For copies of the Senate Local Government
Committee’s detailed reference materials
and other publications --- including
citizen’s guides to joint powers agreements,
special districts, and LAFCOs --- please
go to the Committee’s website: www.sen.
ca.gov/locgov
Proposed Ballot Measure Rejected
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