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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of August 1, 2011 to August 5, 2011
Week of August 1, 2011 to August 5, 2011
KUSP provided a brief Land Use Report on KUSP Radio from January 2003 to May 2016. Archives of past transcripts are available here.
Week of August 1, 2011 to August 5, 2011
- Monday, August 1, 2011
What Is Happening In San Benito County?
- Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The County Gets $300,000+ From Soquel Creek
- Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The SCCRTC Is Meeting Tomorrow
- Thursday, August 4, 2011
Secrecy And The “Regional Water Project”
- Friday, August 5, 2011
Secrecy And Public Participation
The following Land Use Reports have been presented on KUSP Radio by Gary A. Patton. The Wittwer & Parkin law firm is located in Santa Cruz, California, and practices environmental and governmental law. As part of its practice, the law firm files litigation and takes other action on behalf of its clients, which are typically private individuals, governmental agencies, environmental organizations, or community groups. Whenever the Land Use Report comments on an issue with which the Wittwer & Parkin law firm is involved on behalf of a client, Mr. Patton will make this relationship clear, as part of his commentary. Mr. Patton’s comments do not represent the views of Wittwer & Parkin, LLP, KUSP Radio, nor of any of its sponsors.
| Monday, August 1, 2011 What Is Happening In San Benito County? |
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San Benito County is within the area presided over by the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, or AMBAG. The County is under a huge amount of growth pressure, and is a target for large energy projects, too. There are lots of growth and development issues in San Benito County. I hope that some of the listeners to this Land Use Report are paying attention. It’s been my experience that public involvement often kicks in at the “end” of the development process, when people start realizing the impacts of the plans that may have been discussed for years. Often, such involvement comes “too late” really to be effective. Since that’s true, I like to call out opportunities for early engagement, and there is one such opportunity tomorrow, at the meeting of the San Benito County Board of Supervisors scheduled for 9:00 a.m. at the County Administration Building in Hollister. Agenda Item #1 will be a presentation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of a proposed “Foothill Legacy Project,” which is an effort intended to conserve important wildland and agricultural land resources. Landowners with development in mind are coming out strongly against this conservation effort. You have a great chance to find out what is happening tomorrow morning. I hope interested listeners will attend. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, August 2, 2011 The County Gets $300,000+ From Soquel Creek |
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The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors is back from its annual summer break, and will be meeting today at the Santa Cruz County Governmental Center. If you are a Santa Cruz County resident who would like to see your elected officials in action (and checking them out once in a while is always a good idea) you will find that today’s Board meeting will be held on the 5th Floor at 701 Ocean Street, starting at 9:00 o’clock in the morning. The Board is going to be considering the creation of what is called a “Farmland Security Zone” on lands in the Watsonville area. What is proposed is a variant of a Williamson Act Contract that would establish a plan for the long-term protection of the designated properties for agricultural use. In addition, as an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel noted on Saturday, the Board is expected to establish a way for homeowners in the Zayante Sandhills area, in the San Lorenzo Valley, to build minor additions to their homes without running into problems with the federal and state endangered species acts. If you happen to live near the Polo Grounds, a park in mid-county, you may be amazed to learn that the County is expecting to get a payment of over $300,000 from the Soquel Creek Water District, for letting the Water District put a well on that property. All this and more is found on the Board’s agenda tomorrow! Check it out below. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, August 3, 2011 The SCCRTC Is Meeting Tomorrow |
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The SCCRTC is meeting tomorrow, starting at 9:00 a.m., in the Watsonville City Council Chambers. That’s the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, for those who might have forgotten the acronym. You are, of course, cordially invited to attend. If you do attend, you will hear about plans for the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line; that’s the rail line that goes from Davenport to Watsonville, and that can be a major transportation resource in the years ahead. You will also hear news on federal funding for transportation projects. This is always an important topic, since local funding is never enough to do what needs to be done. The Commission will talk about the Monterey Bay Scenic Trail, and will receive a report on a so-called “Smart Growth Implementation Plan.” Finally, the Commission is going to hear a presentation about the new Transportation Commission website, and will discuss how the Commission might use “social media,” like Facebook, to communicate with the public about important transportation policy issues. Transportation policy and land use policy are inextricably linked, and we can’t have “smart” growth without “smart” transportation policy. I was sorry to see that the new website eliminates a major theme of the former website (“consider the alternatives”). It might be smart not to forget how important it is to find alternatives to the single-occupant automobile! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, August 4, 2011 Secrecy And The “Regional Water Project” |
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In Monterey County, the biggest issue at the moment is the future of the so-called “Regional Water Project.” Intended to address a genuine water supply and environmental crisis, mostly affecting the Monterey Peninsula, the Regional Water Project proposes a rather large and very expensive desalination plant, to be located in the Marina area. The word “controversy” significantly understates the public policy problems involved in this proposed project. “Who governs?” and “Who pays?” are both very important issues. There are a number of environmental issues, too, and now, massive conflict of interest issues threaten the validity of the agreements entered into by the agencies involved. So far, both the Marina Coast Water District and the Monterey County Board of Supervisors have hired outside counsel for what seems to be an inevitable legal battle coming up. In the midst of all this, the Mayors of most Monterey Peninsula Cities have now tried to throw a veil of secrecy over what’s going on (this does not include Mayor Bruce Delgado of Marina). I have a link in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report to the so-called “Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement,” and I’ll talk some more, tomorrow, about secrecy and the various state laws that are designed to ensure the ability of the public to participate meaningfully in public policy deliberations. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, August 5, 2011 Secrecy And Public Participation |
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I make no apologies for my consistent appeals for you all to “get involved” in land use decision-making. How we use the land really does impact our local economy, the environment, and whether or not we will achieve our social equity goals. Furthermore, land use, housing, environmental, transportation, and water policy are all linked, so my admonitions that you get personally involved extend beyond land use issues pure and simple. The Ralph M. Brown Act (that applies to local government agencies), the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (that applies to state agencies), and the California Public Records Act (that applies to all government agencies) provide tools to allow ordinary people to know what their governments are doing, and thus to allow them to participate effectively in governmental decision-making. I’ve placed links in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. I urge listeners to check them out. Maybe you should bookmark them. When governmental agencies try to hide the ball as they make public policy (as Monterey County governments are clearly trying to do with respect to the so-called “Regional Water Project”), the only effective response is an informed, militant, and legally prepared counterattack by the citizenry. Making our governments respond to us, and to our interests, is our basic responsibility in a democratic society. When it’s not happening, the citizens need to step up. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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