President Blair called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. All present recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States. Attendees introduced themselves.

Approval of Minutes: Motion, second, unanimous, to approve the Minutes as presented. Unanimous.

LAFCO Update: John Fox said a meeting was held last Thursday to approve the impartial analysis for the annexation of the beach communities to the Carpinteria Sanitary District.

Chapter Website Update: Larry Meyer requested articles and links for our Chapter website. He also cautioned to never respond to spam. The Chapter’s website is now included at the bottom of our agendas. It is www.sbsda.org.

Future Guest Speakers: Gary Rice, General Manager of the Santa Maria Airport District, is our March speaker. First District Supervisor Salud Carbajal will be the April speaker. Allan Pfuntner, General Manager of the Mosquito & Vector Management District of Santa Barbara County, will be the May speaker.

Guest Speaker: Thomas Vu, CSDA Legislative Advocate: George Emerson introduced Thomas Vu, who has been with CSDA since 2006 in the position of in-house lobbyist, working with Ralph Heim. The "ugly" in Sacramento is the current budget crisis, estimated to be in excess of $16 billion. The Governor has declared a state of fiscal emergency per Proposition 58, and the legislature has 45 days to pass a budget. This is not the process to trigger a Proposition 1A fiscal emergency. It is expected there will be across the board cuts in Sacramento, the legislature will be responding. Mr. Vu stated that Proposition 1A is on the table for some legislators. However, it passed by 83.1% of the voters. Under Proposition 1A the state can borrow funds to be repaid within 3 years. Mr. Vu expects the Proposition 1A borrowing to be triggered in May. The Governor switched positions on term limits, so he might also change is Prop 1A position.

Of interest is a proposal to shift property tax funds from Water and Wastewater Districts to fund parole costs.

The "bad" in Sacramento is some of the proposed propositions. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayer group is gathering signatures that would restrict local government associations like CSDA, CSAC, ACWA and CASA from funding ballot measures, whether pro or con. Proposition 98 on the June 2008 ballot is sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers group, it would limit eminent domain to the extent that water projects and land use planning would be effected, with rent controls being rolled back because it is a "taking." The preferred eminent domain measure is Proposition 99, sponsored by the California League of Cities.

The "good" in Sacramento includes SB 1124, the CSDA omnibus bill. SLONs (securitized limited obligation notes) allow borrowing of up to $2 million without voter approval. It currently sunsets in 2009. A five year extension is in the legislative process. SB 1191 (Ahlquist) allows CSDs to provide broadband services. SB 1438 is the rewrite of County Service Area statutes.

Mr. Vu urges all of us to contact our elected legislators. If in Sacramento, CSDA can assist in arranging meetings with our legislators.

There between eight and fifteen people running for Speaker of the Assembly. Senator Darryl Steinberg was recently elected President of the State Senate.

Adjournment: President Blair adjourned the meeting at 7:45 p.m. The next monthly Chapter meeting will be held Monday, March 24^th at The Meadows Restaurant, Solvang, California.

s/ Ca thy Sch lottmann

Cathy Schlottmann

Secretary, SBCSDA

 

 

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