The Local Government Commission is a statewide, nonprofit organization dedicated to making local government more effective. Both city council members and members of Boards of Supervisors are involved. Usually, city officials hang out with other city officials, and county officials hang out with their county counterparts. The LGC brings all local government officials together, in a single organization. However, not every city council member or county supervisor is a member of the LGC. In general, the local officials who choose to join the LGC are the “activist” types, local officials who really see local government as a prime mover for economic, social, and environmental change.

The LGC began its life as a state agency in the Executive Branch of government, under Governor Jerry Brown. It particularly emphasized energy policy. Now, the LGC is mostly focused on how to use land use policy to achieve critical environmental, economic, and social equity goals.

The most recent LGC publication is an extremely readable eight page fact sheet that highlights school and local government collaborations to deal with what the LGC calls “Childhood Obesity: A Preventable Epidemic.” School officials, and local government officials, and parents, and just plain interested citizens should get a copy of this new brochure. Find out more on below.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Local Government Commission Website
http://www.lgc.org

Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Fact Sheet
http://www.lgc.org/freepub/PDF/Land_Use/
fact_sheets/Healthy_Kids_Healthy_Communities.pdf

The “big story” on the California Central Coast, where land use is involved, is the competition between the dueling ballot measures up for a vote in Monterey County. If you’re eligible to vote, you should think about getting involved. That is, if you haven’t already gotten involved!

Some of us, I know, tend to get a bit “fatigued,” as we try to sort through the claims and counter claims. I’ve tried to refer listeners to various places that they can get good information about the ballot measures, and my advice is that television advertisements are probably not your best source.

In the transcript for today’s Land Use Report, I’m including references to a number of online sources of information, from different perspectives. One of them is a set of “20 Most Frequently Asked Questions About GP 2006,” which is the ballot measure that the Board of Supervisors wants you to vote for. The proponents of the Community General Plan Initiative want you to vote “no” on that, and “yes” on Measure A, which is the General Plan document put on the ballot by citizen initiative.

At stake is the future of “land use” in Monterey County. The Board of Supervisors want land uses to be largely a matter of individual choice, so if you own farmland and want to convert it to development (so you can make a lot of money) you’ll have that option. The Community General Plan effort says that the community, not the Board of Supervisors, should have the last say.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

“Yes on A” Websites, supporting the Community General Plan Initiative

• http://www.montereyplan.org/pages/yesonA.html
• http://www.landwatch.org

“No on A” Website, opposing the Community General Plan Initiative

• http://www.montereycountyfarmbureau.org/

League of Women Voters Impartial Comparison
http://www.lwvmp.org/GPcomps.html

Rancho San Juan Opposition Coalition
http://www.stopranchosanjuan.org/index.html

The KION Fight For The Future Series
http://www.kion46.com/content/
fightforthefuture/default.aspx

The “20 Most Frequently Asked Questions About GP 2006”
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/pbi/gpu/default.htm

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has this to say about vernal pools: These areas are “seasonal depressional wetlands that occur under the Mediterranean climate conditions of the West Coast. They are covered by shallow water for variable periods from winter to spring, but may be completely dry for most of the summer and fall. These wetlands range in size from small puddles to shallow lakes … [and] are sometimes connected to each other by small drainages known as vernal swales.”

Vernal pools are biologically important, but they have traditionally been ignored or overlooked, as development has occurred, and so these areas have been routinely destroyed or degraded. Fairly recently, the significance of vernal pool environments has become much clearer, and figuring out how to protect and preserve vernal pools is now a major objective as development proposals are considered. The University of California at Merced, as one example, has only proceeded with development of its new campus as the University has been able to get approval for efforts to protect vernal pool environments.

All this is by way of prologue. On Saturday, May 26th, the California Native Plant Society is sponsoring a short hike to view vernal pools on Fort Ord. The hike will be led by biologist Bruce Delgado. Find out more below.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

California Vernal Pools Website
http://www.vernalpools.org/

California Native Plant Society, Santa Cruz County Chapter
http://www.cruzcnps.org

The Vernal Pool Association (East Coast based)
http://www.vernalpool.org/vernal_1.htm

EPA website on vernal pools
http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/types/vernal.html

To participate in the May 26th hike, contact BLM biologist Bruce Delgado by telephone at 831-277-7690, 831-394-8314;
or by email at bdelgado@mbay.net or mailto:bdelgado@blm.gov.

Because sprawl development has been documented as a major cause of the degradation of our marine environment, I was not surprised to learn that the Ocean Conservancy, Oceana, World Wildlife Fund, and the Surfrider Foundation have all become interested in the land use policy debates going on in Monterey County, and that all of these organizations have now officially endorsed Measure A, the Community General Plan Initiative.

It’s pretty unusual for statewide, national, and even international organizations to become involved in a local land use debate. However, we can’t forget that Central Coast residents are privileged to live right “next door” to the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary, known for its exceptional environmental values (not to mention the economic values that are also dependent on the protection of our marine resources). I think Monterey County voters would be wise to consider not only the “land” impacts of future sprawl development, but also the impacts that this development will have on the Sanctuary. Clearly, organizations whose prime purpose is to protect our marine environment think that this land use debate is important.

By the way, Assembly Member John Laird endorsed Measure A the same day that these ocean protection organizations did. Since John and I worked long and hard on marine protection efforts when we were both local elected officials, that’s not surprising either.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Oceana
http://www.oceana.org/international-home-nao/

Surfrider Association
http://www.surfrider.org/

Ocean Conservancy
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/
PageServer?pagename=home

World Wildlife Fund
http://www.worldwildlife.org/index.cfm?
sc=AWY0707WCG00&searchen=google

Assembly Member John Laird Website
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a27/

Pew Oceans Commission report on “Protecting Ocean Life” –
http://www.pewtrusts.org/ideas/ideas_item.cfm?
content_item_id=1635&content_type_id=8&issue_name=
Protecting%20ocean%20life&issue=16&page=8&
name=Grantee%20Reports

“Sprawl and Declining Coastal Health”
http://www.pewtrusts.org/pdf/env_pew_oceans_sprawl.pdf

My “unhidden agenda” is to stimulate what was once called “participatory democracy.” My experience is that citizen participation really does make a difference, and that “land use” is at the center of virtually everything we do. Our economy, and environment, and how successful we are in reaching our social equity goals, are all dependent on the land use policy choices we make.

Land use decisions are “community” decisions, too, since individuals don’t, generally, have a “right” to do whatever they want to do with the land they own. Think of it this way: if you need a “permit” to do something, that means you need to “get permission” from the larger community, and you don’t have a “right” to do it, unless the permission is granted.

As we all know, we do need to get a permit to add on to our home, or to convert it from residential to another use, or to convert farmland to some other use, or to subdivide our property, or … you get the idea. The fact is that land use policy decisions, which determine who gets permission to do what, are “community” decisions. Since the use of land affects all of us, we all get to be involved in making the decisions.

However, we get to be involved only if we choose to become involved. Nothing compels you to take an interest in the decisions that will profoundly affect your future. Democracy is an opportunity, not a requirement. Those with individual gains to be made are definitely working the system. But what about you?

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.