AgdaPkt 2008-06-09 - Laserfiche WebLink

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8A Page 15 San Luis Obispo Tribune (5/8/08) Santa Maria Times (5/12/08) Santa Rosa Press Democrat (5/22/08) San Mateo County Times (5/4/08) San Ramon Valley Times (5/4/08) Santa Cruz Sentinel (5/5/08) Sonoma Index- Tribune (5/20/08) Tulare Advance Register (5/8/08) Tracy Press (5/16/08) Tri- Valley Herald (5/4/08) Visa/ia Times Delta (5/8/08) Vacavil/e Reporter (5/7/08) Valley Times (5/4/08) Weekly Calistogan (5/22/08) West County Times (5/4/08) Whittier Daily News (5n/08) Woodland Daily Democrat (5/8/08) Proposition 99 Offers Voters Responsible Eminent Domain Reform Many of the papers who have opposed Prop. 98 are supporting Proposition 99, the Homeowners Protection Act, which is also slated for the June 2008 ballot. This measure offers true eminent domain reform by prohibiting the government from using eminent domain to take a home to transfer to a private developer. Prop. 99 is supported by a broad coalition of homeowners, businesses, labor groups, cities, counties and environmentalists. It contains no hidden provisions. The League strongly supports Prop. 99. For more information about the two measures visit www.no98yes99.com. Safe Neighborhoods Act Targeted for November 2008 Ballot Supporters of the "Safe Neighborhoods Act: Stop Gang, Gun, and Street Crime" submitted signatures to election officials on April 25 to qualify the measure for the November 2008 ballot. To date, the Secretary of State's office has not announced that the measure has qualified. Political positioning over this measure has already begun in the Legislature with the recent action of the Senate Budget Subcommittee #4 to eliminate funding for Citizen Options for Public Safety (COPS), Booking Fees and other local public safety programs from the Senate's version of the budget. Republicans and law enforcement groups are supporting this measure, while Democrats, teachers and other groups criticize the measure for its impact on the state budget. The Governor has not yet taken a position and continues in his May revise to propose that these local public safety programs be funded at traditional levels, but subject to the 10 percent across-the-board cuts he proposed in January. The League of California Cities has not taken a position on the initiative and is in the process of analyzing this comprehensive proposal for its potential impact on cities. Cities are encouraged to delay any action on the proposal until it qualifies for the ballot and the League completes its analysis. The measure will be tracked and updates will be provided through Priority Focus and on the League's Web site. What the Measure Proposes to Do In brief, the Safe Neighborhoods Act would: . Create a new state office, the "Office of Public Safety Education and Information" that would provide the public with information on crime and crime prevention via the Internet and other media outlets, administer various competitive law enforcement grant programs established under the initiative, and establish and maintain a gang database. . Create a new state commission, the "California Early InteNention, Rehabilitation, and Accountability Commission," to evaluate publicly funded crime prevention programs. . Lock in, prohibiting reduction or alteration by the Legislature, virtually all state funded law enforcement programs at their 2007 programmatic designs and funding levels plus annual inflationary growth. These programs include: o COPS - including city/county frontline law enforcement subventions increased from $119 million to $125 million (plus annual growth factor thereafter) o Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention subventions increased from $119 million to $125 million (plus annual growth factor thereafter) o Jail Detention Facility (Jail Efficiency Fund) Subventions (re: Booking Fees) 5