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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-10-2014 b3 christie - sierra clubKremke, Kate From: Mejia, Anthony Sent: Friday, June 06, 2014 4:54 PM To: Kremke, Kate Subject: FW: Formation of the Measure Y Oversight Commission RECEIVED Attachments: measury y oversight comm.docx JUN 06 2014 Agenda Correspondence for Item B3 on 06/10/14. SLO CITY CLERK Anthony J. Mejia I City Clerk c1ty or b111 WIS < >m spo AGENDA 999 Palm Street CORRESPONDENCE San i uis Obispo, CA 93401 tel 1 805,781,71,02 From: Codron, Michael Sent: Friday, June 06, 2014 4:50 PM To: Mejia, Anthony Subject: FW: Formation of the Measure Y Oversight Commission Agenda correspondence, attached. From: Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club [mailto:sierraclub8 @gmail.com] Sent: Friday, June 06, 2014 4:44 PM To: Council ALL Subject: Formation of the Measure Y Oversight Commission Please find attached the Sierra Club's recommendations for the creation of the Citizen's Local Tax Revenue Enhancement Oversight Commission. Thank you, Andrew Christie, Director Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club P.O. Box 15755 San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 (805) 543 -8717 www.santalucia.sierraclub.or� June 6, 2014 SIERRA CLUB FOUNDED 1892 Dear Mayor Marx and Members of the City Council, Santa Lucia Chapter P.O. Box 15755 San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 (805) 543 -8717 www.santalucia.sierraclub.org We are pleased that you are considering the establishment of a Citizen's Local Tax Revenue Enhancement Oversight Commission for the expenditure of sales tax revenues raised by the extension of Measure Y. This has been an especially heartening development in light of the disappointing decision to dismiss the options of participatory budgeting and companion advisory measures to be placed on the ballot along with the measure for the extension of Measure Y — the only specific, concrete proposals that were considered during the deliberations of the Local Revenue Measure Advisory Committee that would have brought improved transparency and meaningful public input to the apportionment of Measure Y revenues. This was discouraging, as was the decision to repeat the exact language of the original Measure Y ballot measure in the 2014 ballot description, despite the LRMAC having identified the use of this language on the 2006 ballot as the primary source of confusion and anger on the part of voters that arose after the measure passed. If done right, an oversight commission could do much to alleviate the concerns that arose in the wake of Measure Y's passage, which we have pointed out on several occasions. By "done right," we do not mean a commission created via a cut & paste of the descriptions and duties in any of the sample city resolutions establishing oversight committees that have been put before you as examples, but a commission created on the basis of the following principles: 1. Commissioners should not be self - selecting in the representation of interest areas The creation of the LUCE Update Task Force, which originally sought to include representatives in the categories of "people, profit and planet," resulted in a situation in which multiple individuals professionally involved in various aspects of real estate development were appointed to represent "neighborhoods." To achieve a true spectrum of representation and avoid the pitfalls inherent in the self - identification method of appointment, we recommend the submission of candidates by organizations — RQN, Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Association, Sierra Club, Land Conservancy, etc. — for consideration of appointment to the commission. The Sierra Club has consistently worked for more than 25 years to help craft the city's hundreds of open space and environmental protection policies and programs through our active representation on the City's 1994 Land Use Element Task Force and Open Space Element Task Force, Environmental Quality Task Force, and current LUCE Task Force. 2. The makeup of the commission should reflect the priorities of residents In terms of interests represented, we recommend the following apportionment of seats for a 5- member commission: 1 CPA, Chair 2 Environment 1 Business 1 Neighborhoods Or, for a 7- member commission: 1 CPA, Chair 1 Business 3 Environment 2 Neighborhoods We are suggesting this composition not because the environment is the issue area that we happen to advocate for, but because the City has been told emphatically by residents that this area is their primary concern and funding priority. This fact is readily discernible from the results of the Quality of Life and Future Development Survey, sent to all city residents and business owners in 2012 as part of the update of the Land Use and Circulation Elements. Your staff noted in its overview of the survey results — compiled from 2,198 responses, four times the number of respondents that would have been necessary for a statistically valid telephone survey -- that this was "a good indicator of the opinions of San Luis Obispo residents and business owners." It is, in fact, the best and most broad -based indicator of the priorities and community values of SLO citizens and businesses the City has ever had, especially in the responses to questions on Public Facilities and Services. Its results should carry significantly greater weight in future policymaking, budgeting and goal- setting than the results from any number of past or future small -scale telephone surveys or public workshops In other words, we are not proposing significant representation for open space advocates on the revenue oversight commission because we are the Sierra Club, but because of the community values reflected in the LUCE Update Survey. Just four areas were supported by the majority of respondents seeking additional facilities and services: 58% support acquiriig and maintaining Open space for peaks and hillsides, 54 suPPort acquiring and maintaining open space for the City's greenbelt, 53% support acquiring and maintaining open space for creeks and marshes, 50% would like more bicycle lanes. (Quality of Life and Future Development Survey, pp. 14 -15.) We note, by contrast, the amount of funding from Measure Y revenues dedicated to open space preservation in recent City budgets, despite the funding priorities of residents as expressed in 1988 and reaffirmed in 2012: Uses of Measure Y Revenues for Open Space 2007 -2009 5% Open Space Preservation 2009 -2011 3% Open Space Preservation 2011 -2013 2% Open Space Preservation 2013 -2015 3% Open Space Preservation (approved 2013 -2015 Budget) We believe the City would do well to ensure that it appoints a revenue advisory and oversight commission that can be relied on to remind it of the funding priorities and community values of its residents. We regret that events subsequent to the passage of Measure Y have necessitated the Sierra Club's withdrawal of our former support, and that, due to the rejection of above -cited measures that would have assured a high level of specific public input on the allocation of such revenues, our concerns have not been addressed. The creation of an oversight commission along the lines suggested above would go a long way toward making it possible for us to support the renewal of the revenue augmentation measure and urge our members to work for its passage. Thank you for your attention to these issues, Andrew Christie Chapter Director