The
Yorba Linda City Council strongly opposes a proposal to reduce the
number of members serving on the Orange County Fire Authority
governing board because, among other reasons, the city would likely
lose a director position held for the past 20 years.
The
proposal comes in the form of a bill in the 80-member state Assembly
by Tom Daly, a Democrat representing Santa Ana and parts of Anaheim,
Garden Grove and Orange. His legislation would knock the fire
authority's board membership from 25 to 13.
Proponents
claim the 25-member board with representatives from the city councils
of the 23 cities contracting with the authority, plus two of the five
county supervisors, is “too unwieldy.”
This
city's council members noted that 13 would still be “unwieldy”
and several of the contract cities – very likely the smaller cities
– would be eliminated from representation under the formula
outlined to choose 10 board members from the cities, plus three
county supervisors.
Two
members would be selected from each of the county's five supervisor
districts, one on a population-weighted basis and one on a “one
city, one vote” basis by a “city selection committee” made up
of reps from the contract cities. Directors would serve two-year
terms.
One
problem with this method is the contract cities are not evenly
divided into the supervisor districts, from two cities each in two
north and central county districts to 11 cities in the south county
district.
Ten
of the county's 34 cities maintain their own departments and La Habra
contracts with Los Angeles County. The remainder are in the
authority, formed in 1995 and governed by a joint-powers agreement.
Until
1995, several cities, including Yorba Linda, were served by the
Orange County Fire Department, administered by the supervisors.
Before 1980, nine county cities, also including Yorba Linda, were
under the state Forestry Department, with paid-call and volunteer
fire fighters.
Now,
some updates:
--Recent
columns on citizen and developer suggestions for the city-owned
Bastanchury Road site once planned for Friends Christian High School
drew email, including one from Brandon Rainone, whose family owns
Concourse Bowling, just off east La Palma Avenue in Anaheim.
He
proposes a sports park, with fields, playground amenities, open space
and a celebrity chef-run restaurant, among other ideas that can be
viewed at yorbalindasportspark.com.
Rainone
told me he'd pay $10 million cash for the “base” site fronting
Bastanchury Road and lease the two other properties that are
deed-restricted for public uses by seller Shell-Western at $300,000
monthly for 99 years.
--City-sought
appraisals on the properties are expected soon. Currently, annual
maintenance costs for the 40 acres are about $25,000, after an
initial $61,000 outlay when the high school lease was terminated in
2013, funded by a $210,656 settlement from Friends Christian Church.