At Tuesday's Council meeting, Agenda Item 23, was all about raising more fees and this time for appeals of city planning decisions and the like. Effectively, it would price out many from making appeals, while at the same time, provide a cap on the fees for developers.
The matter was continued to Wednesday (today) and appears now that the action today is to put it on hold for now. It is pending city people doing more work on determining the actual costs involved in doing appeal work and the frequency of appeals, as well as identifying which groups or individuals that make the most use of the current system. It will come back to Council in a few weeks with some reports - and I'm just guessing here- it will be a report used to sell it for approval to get rates kicked up, as that was the plan all along.
Richard Alarcon was among the vigilant on this and it's nice to see him on the public's side for a change. Ed Reyes? Ed is all for the boost, as is, and tries to say "You all voted for it already." Really, the original notice provisions were a potential source of litigation based on the Brown Act's mandatory disclosure requirements that were not met in the prior form.
Shame on you guys- and after THAT (the nature of the proceedings) was made known, the objections to the change came rolling in. Ed was somewhat in awe of the late and mounting numbers of objections received on this- thank the internet and instant communication to rally the people. Sorry, Ed.
Rather than re-hash it all and have a delay putting up this post for another day, you can look over and read Ron Kaye's blog for some descriptions and comments to help sort this out, "Three Years, Five Months, 68 Days ... and Now 24 Hours More To Figure Out Planning Appeal Fees," By Ron Kaye on October 20, 2009 . Our man in CD-1, Ed Reyes, was especially peeved on the ouptpouring of objections that were coming in from the public and, for a welcomed change, from fellow Council members. http://www.ronkayela.com/
There is more on the same topic in Tuesday's postings on Mayor Sam's Sister City blog, http://www.mayorsam.blogspot.com/ with comments, of course. "How Does the City Stop Activists? Price Them Out of Existence! " October 19, 2009.
The current budget woes of the city, above $500 million by some estimates, make them very desperate for collecting money. You already saw the parking meters fees quadruple and there are now extended hours of operation, all leading to more inconvenience to motorists, as if driving was not a job in itself, now parking is a source of more problems. Parking tickets bring in money in this regard, and you know the changes were not accidentally made. No, "Ooops!" here- that was their plan.
And you can expect more schemes to come but the favored unions will continue to benefit and be lightly treated, the other special interests will come out ahead and the lowly city residents will endure more charges imposed by the ones who are supposed to look out for us.
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