Item 25 - Status Report on Pending Legislation _AGENDA REPORT SUMMARY~-/~~_
_J: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: James L. Bowersox, City Mana~
INITL4~TED BY: John D. Fitch, Assistant City Manager~)~
Penny Riley, Senior Management Analys~
DATE: April 18, lgg5
SUBJECt: Status Report on Pending Legislation
The League of California Cities has informed the City of the following measures which
are pending in the State Legislature: AB 1715 (Goldsmith) Housing Elements Self-
certification); AB 1731 (Goldsmith) Land Use: General Rlan; AB 309 (Alpert) Public
Library Learning and Literacy Expansion Act; AB 138 (Goldsmith) Public Works:
Prevailing Wages; AB 135 (Rainey) Vehicles: Registration Fees; AB 563 (Harvey) Water
Quality: Waste Discharge; SB 1122 (Mountjoy) Small Business; AB 282 (Hauser) Property
Taxation; AB 142 (Bowen) Public Records; and SB 623 (Peace) Crimes: Theft of Cable TV
Signals.
L~,NVIRONMENTALREVIEW
Environmental review is not required for this item under California Environmental
Quality Act guidelines.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this informational report.
ADDITIONAL PUBLICNOTIFICATIONAND CORRESPONDENCE
Assemblyman Jan Goldsmith; Senator David Kelley; Bob Wilson, the City's Lobbyist; and
the League of California Cities were notified of this agenda item.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council support AB 1715; support AB 1731; support
AB 309; support AB 138; support AB ]35; support AB 563; oppose SB ]122; support AB 282;
oppose AB 142; and support SB 623.
ACTION
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CITY OF POWAY
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of~ City Council
FROM: James L. Bowersox, City Manag~~ A
INITIATED BY: John D. Fitch, Assistant City Manager )~_
Penny Riley, Senior Management AnalysT~.:)i~-~ ~
DATE: April 18, 1995
SUBJECT: Status Report on Pending Legislation
BACKGROUND
The League of California Cities has informed the City of the following measures
which are pending in the State Legislature: AB 1715 (Goldsmith} Housing Elements
Self-certification; AB 1731 (Goldsmith) Land Use: General Plan; AB 309 {Alpeyt)
Public Library Learning and Literacy Expansion Act; AB 138 (Goldsmith) Public
Works: Prevailing Wages; AB 135 (Rainey) Vehicles: Registration Fees; AB 563
(Harvey} Water Quality: Waste Discharge; SB 1122 {Mountjoy) Small Business;
AB 282 (Hauser) Property Taxation; AB 142 (Bowen) Public Records; and SB 623
(Peace) Crimes: Theft of Cable TV Signals.
FINDINGS
AB 1715 (Goldsmith) Housinq Elements: Self-certification
Assemblymember Goldsmith introduced AB 1715 on February 24, 1995, which initiates
a pilot self-certification program for the San Diego region which would allow the
cities and county to self-certify that they have met certain performance
standards related to meeting the region's housing needs. This legislation would
eliminate the lengthy housing element review by the State Department of Housing
and Community Development for agencies which are able to self-certify.
AB 1715 is sponsored by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) because
this measure supports the principles of housing element reform approved by the
SANDAG Board and the Housing Element Advisory Committee. SANDAG has requested
that the City of Poway support this important housing element reform legislation.
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AB 1731 (Goldsmith) Land Use: General plan
Assemblyman Goldsmith introduced AB 1731 on February 24, 1995, which authorizes
local governments to meet housing needs by identifying adequate sites or through
substantial rehabilitation of current housing stock. It is recommended that the
City Council support Assemblyman Goldsmith's housing reform measures.
AB 30g (Alpert) Public Library Learninq and Literacy Expansion Act
Assemblymember Alpert introduced AB 309 on February 8, lggS, which authorizes the
issuance of $500 million in state bonds for the purpose of financing a library
construction and renovation program. It is recommended that the City Council
support AB 30g as a potential source of funding for the Poway Library.
AB 138 (Goldsmith) Public Works: prevailinq Waqes
Assemblymember Jan Goldsmith introduced AB 138 on January 13, 1995, which would
allow local governments to obtain a waiver for the state's costly prevailing wage
schedule if the proposed project is to be funded by a portion of local dollars.
It is recommended that the City Council support AB 138.
AB 135 {Rainey) Vehicles
Assemblymember Rainey introduced AB 135 on January 13, 1995, which would extend
the $1.00 fee on the registration of a vehicle indefinitely to fund the Abandoned
Vehicle Abatement (AVA) Program. The City of Poway received approximately
$30,000 in General Fund revenue from AVA funds last fiscal year. It is
recommended that the City Council support AB 135.
AB 563 (Harvey) Water Quality: Waste'Discharq~
Assemblymember Harvey introduced AB 563 on February 17, 1995, which addresses a
real problem for cities contemplating acquiring a right-of-way that turns out to
be contaminated by hazardous waste. It would exclude a city from liability for
the costs or damages that result from hazardous materials contamination on a
municipal right-of-way, unless the contamination was caused by actions or
omissions of that city. If a city must obtain access to property through a
right-of-way, it should not be responsible for cleanup costs for contamination
caused by another owner. The cost of the cleanup could be prohibitive and
prevent the city from completing a much-needed project if an alternative to that
right-of-way is not feasible. It is recommended that the City Council support AB
563.
SB 1122 (Mountjoy) Small Businesses: Environmental Requlation~
Senator Mountjoy introduced SB 1122 on February 24, 1995, which would require any
public entity to comply with a series of requirements in adopting environmental
regulations or ordinances. These include making the regulations or ordinances
not so burdensome on small business so as not to impede their ability to remain
in business, and to take into account current activities by the businesses to
reduce adverse environmental impacts. It would limit how and when fines for non-
compliance of ordinances are imposed and would not permit the fines to be
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Agenda Report - Pendi. Legislation
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Page 3
returned to the regulatory entity that imposed the fines. Finally, SB 1122 would
require all public entities to review existing ordinances or regulations imposed
by it to determine compliance with the provisions of the bill, and, no later than
January 1, 1997, to revise or adopt changes to existing requirements to comply
with the provisions of SB 1122. After that date, no public entity could enforce
any requirement that does not comply with the bill's provisions.
While the League is concerned about the impacts of government regulation on the
business community, it is believed that the provisions of SB 1122 will increase
the regulatory and administrative burdens on local governments and subject them
to potential challenges by businesses who wish to claim that the local
government, not a recession or a bad business decision, is the cause of its
business downturn. Further, the demands on cities to implement the requirements
of SB 1122 will be costly, burdensome and potentially counterproductive. It is
recommended that the City Council oppose SB 1122.
AB 282 (Hauser) Property Taxation
Assemblymember Hauser introduced AB 282 on February 6, 1995, which would allow
cities and redevelopment aencies to review the properties which are requesting
reduced assessments and potentially provide additional information to assist the
assessor. The decline inproperty values over the last five years has resulted in
a large increase in the number of both applications for reduced assessments and
assessment appeals. This, combined with reduced resources for county assessors,
has resulted in some reduced assessments that were not justified in the opinion
of the measure's sponsor, the California Redevelopment Association. It is
recommened that the City Council support AB 282.
AB 142 (Bowen) Public Records
Assemblymember Bowen introduced AB 142 on January 13, lgg5, which is an attempt
to bring the Public Records Act into the electronic age. The bill very simply
requires:
Any agency that has information that constitutes an identifiable public
record that is in an electronic format shall, unless otherwise prohibited
by law, make that information available in an electronic format when
requested by any person.
The League of California Cities believes the simplicity of language is the
problem with the bill. The author and proponents argue that it should be cheaper
for all concerned to access this information electronically rather than providing
hard copy. This assertion ignores the requirements placed on agencies under
California's privacy laws. A more or less blanket approach to electronic access,
as provided in AB 142, means greater exposure to lawsuits contending invasion of
privacy and greater costs to public agencies for those lawsuits as well as
payment of attorney fees as required under existing law.
The bill also attempts to more narrowly define the costs public agencies can
charge for duplication of records, stating that costs of duplication shall
include the "costs associated with duplicating public records." The bill goes on
to provide that any reasonably segregable portion of a record shall be provided
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to any person requesting the record "after deletion of portions that are exempt."
Under the electronic access provided in this bill, large databases, such as City
and SANDAG GIS systems, will have to laboriously be reviewed and private
information deleted. Additionally, databases created with public funds will have
to be turned over to private consultants who will use them in profit generating
activities. It is recommended that the City Council oppose AB 142.
SB 623 (Peace) Crimes: Theft of Cable TV Siqnal~
Senator Peace introduced SB 623 on February 22, lggs, which would add a felony
wobbler to existing law so that those who sell illegal cable connector boxes for
profit can be charged with either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the
circumstances of the crime.
The theft of cable signals is a growing concern for cable operators, program
creators who lose royalties and cities which lose their approximately 5~ cable
royalties on lost revenues. Cox Cable estimates that the City of Poway has a
total annual revenue loss of $40,880 from the theft of premium services. It is
recommended that the City Council support SB 623 as an enforcement mechanism to
combat cable piracy.
ENVIRONHENTAL REVIEW
Environmental review is not required for this item under California Environmental
Quality Act guidelines.
FISCAL I~PACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this informational report.
ADDITIONAL PUBLIC NOTIFICATION AND CORRESPONDENCF
Assemblyman Jan Goldsmith; Senator David Kelley; Bob Wilson, the City's Lobbyist;
and the League of California Cities were notified of this agenda item.
RECO~NENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council take the following actions:
1. Support AB 1715 and direct staff to notify the Assembly Committee on Local
Government and SANDAG of the City's support for the measure.
2. Support AB ]731 and direct staff to notify the Assembly Committee on Local
Government of the City's support for the measure.
3. Support AB 30g and direct staff to notify the Assembly Appropriations
Committee of the City's support for the measure.
4. Support AB 138 and direct staff to notify the Assembly Labor and Employment
Committee of the City's support for the measure.
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5. Support AB 135 and direct staff to notify the Assembly Local Delegation of
the City's support for the measure.
6. Support AB 563 and direct staff to notify the Assembly Environmental Safety
and Toxic Materials Committee of the City's support for the measure.
7. Oppose SB 1122 and direct staff to notify the Senate Natural Resources and
Wildlife Committee of the City's opposition to the measure.
8. Support AB 282 and direct staff to notify the Assembly Revenue and Taxation
Committee of the City's support for the measure.
9. Oppose AB 142 and direct staff to notify the Assembly Governmental
Organization Committee of the City's opposition to the measure.
10. Support SB 623 and direct staff to notify the Senate Criminal Procedure
Committee of the City's support for April 14, 1995 the measure.
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