AgdaPkt 2002-09-09 - Laserfiche WebLink

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STATEMENT BY ASSEMBLY MEMBER ALAN LOWENTHAL ON SB 910 Last week SB 910 (Dunn) failed passage in the that local governments sometimes face when Assembly Committee on Housing and Community dealing with state bureaucracy. For the most part, Development when the sponsors and author local governments do not seek to ignore their rejected compromise amendments offered by obligations or legal requirements. Housing Committee Chairman Alan Lowenthal (Long Beach), and Local Government Committee With that in mind, last year, along with Chairwoman Pat Wiggins (Santa Rosa). The two Assemblymember Wiggins, I convened a working Chairpersons exercised great leadership in group to address issues arising under Senator developing a compromise approach, and by Dunn's SB 910. This bill institutes a series of insisting that this compromise be part of a final penalties to be levied againstjufisdictions which package. The rest of the committee also fail to deliver a housing element plan that receives struggled greatly with their decisions on this bill. a certification of compliance from the Department of Housing. Assemblymember Wiggins and I The attached statement, read by Assembly participated in those meetings for count/ess Member Lowenthal at the hearing, is provided so hours. that city officials can see for themselves the thoughtful, committed leadership that led to the I assigned the working group and my staff a final vote on a hard fought and deeply felt issue, mission: to put together a proposal that enforces The statement also clearly implies that, while SB the existing requirement for cities and counties to 910 may be dead, the need to find solutions to the draft a housing element that substantially corn- state's affordable housing crisis are still with us. plies with the law, and to make certain it ensures fairness and due process of the law. I believe that the amendments, which I am offering here, ac- Statement by Assembly Member Alan complish this goal. Lowenthal on SB 498 (Dunn) AKA SB 910 I had also hoped that we would arrive at a consensus and have all stakeholders in support. Opening Remarks Unfortunately, it appears that we have failed to achieve unanimity. The amendments being After four years as chair of this committee, I offered have been drafted in collaboration with the am ali too aware of the housing cdsis confronting Assembly Local Govemment Committee. As I'm California. I am committed to seeking solutions to sure all parties recall, there was a commitment the ongoing issue of lack of affordable housing, made by Senator Dunn that if key elements were In 2000, I worked for the largest single appropfia- not worked out, the bill would be brought back to tion for Iow-income housing programs in the Local Government Committee to discuss the history of the state. This year I worked closely unresolved issues. with Senator Burton on the largest housing bond in the history of the state. The amendments offered here, now, are those required to gamer my support and the support of I am committed to the concept of requiring Assemblymember Wiggins. local governments to do the fight thing. I am committed to the concept of enforcing the/aw where the law is being broken. But I am also Lowenthal Amendment Summary strongly committed to due process of law. Standard of Review Everyone knows that I come from local gov- I made it very clear that in order to get my emment. I understand the issues that occur at support the standard of review issue must be left the local level and am aware of the frustrations out of this bill. There was a meeting in my office Continued on Page 8 Visit the League's Official Web Site--www.cacities.org PRIORITY FOCUS/PAGE ?