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Meeting of August 5, 2010
Government Affairs Co-chair Gary Cursio called the meeting to order in the reading room of the InterContinental The Clement at 8:34 am.
Present: Gary Cursio, Hunter Harvath, Sam Teel, Mike Zimmerman, John Narigi, Steve Ellzey, Chris Chidlaw, John Turner, Hank Armstrong, Don Bachman (for Debbie Hale), Jeff Gilles, Michael Bekker, Tom Rowley, Bob Brower, Bob McKenzie, and guests Ceres Mayor Anthony Cannella, his aide Jamie Mori, and North County Fire Protection District Chief Chris Orman.
Minutes of meeting of July 1, 2010 – approved as distributed.
Additions to agenda – none.
Special presentations, roundtables, follow-ups Because of the number of guests, a round of self-introductions was performed.
Ceres Mayor and candidate for Senate District 12 Anthony Cannella Cannella thanked the committee for his second opportunity to address the group. He pointed out that he has a lot of local government experience, has his own engineering business in Modesto, and a family; campaigning for the Senate has been difficult but is going very well. The district has been Republican for 16 years. All the local farm bureaus have endorsed him and he hope to get the endorsement of the California Farm Bureau Federation soon. Cannella also pointed out that the California Chamber of Commerce has picked his race for SD 12 and the Assemblymember Sam Blakeslee race in SD 15 as the two key Senate races in California as they are the key to keeping the Democrats from getting to the two-thirds majority they need to pass anything in the Senate; Cal Chamber’s Jobs PAC supports Cannella strongly. Cannella stated that if you listen to his opponent, Assemblymember Anna Caballero, she’s a moderate, pro-business Democrat but her record shows she votes with the Democrats in the legislature 96% of the time, that she has supported literally every union-supported bill in her four years in the Assembly, and that she has supported every attempt at Card Check. He would appreciate our endorsement and will partner with us if he wins. Polling indicates he’s in good shape to win. Cannella states that the State Senate is the extent of his political ambition, that he wants to serve in the Senate and then go home to his family and his business. Sam Teel asked his position on the water bond proposition (Proposition 18); Cannella responded that it has been decades since the state did anything meaningful on water issues and that the water bond is realistically as good as can be done, so he supports it. He added that the environmental things in the water bond helps take the pressure off agriculture so he hopes that will result in alleviation of the Central Valley crisis. He also said he favors taking the water bond off the November ballot because distrust of the legislature probably means it won’t pass. Cannella also pointed out that in the City of Ceres layoffs have accounted for a loss of 20% of the city’s workforce and that he doesn’t see the state making the kind of budget effort that cities are forced to make. Tom Rowley asked how he feels about term limits. Cannella responded that he did not support them when on the ballot in 1990 and doesn’t support them now; the thinks that at some point bad legislators will be voted out of office. Hunter Harvath asked what he’s done about economic development and job creation in Ceres. Cannella responded that he and Ceres partner with local chambers for business and job retention and recruitment of new businesses, that Ceres has invested millions of dollars in infrastructure, and that Ceres has maintained a business-friendly atmosphere. He also pointed out that it takes constant pressure on staff to do the right things in terms of new opportunities. John Narigi asked how he feels about immigration. Cannella answered that he recognizes immigration is a big issue for hospitality but is a federal issue, that he thinks we need to secure our borders, and provide an opportunity for those who want to come here and prosper; he does not favor the Arizona law. He thanked the committee for its time and asked again for an endorsement. [Endorsement below]
North County Fire Protection District Chief Chris Orman Orman informed the committee that his district covers the area of Highway 156, and Highway 101 from the Red Barn (San Miguel interchange) south to 156. He gets to watch the folks tied up in traffic and the looks on their faces tells him they don’t want to do it (get stuck in traffic) again. He distributed the latest information from the California Highway Patrol on traffic incidents in his area and they are dramatic. His district is first responder on accidents and he has to gear up for event weekends, adding extra personnel and engines, so the current situation is quite expensive for his district. Orman turned over the discussion to Transportation Agency for Monterey County Assistant Executive Director Don Bachman, who had updates on a variety of topics, including Highway 156. Bachman reported that the California Transportation Commission (CTC) will vote next Thursday, and is geared to approve, approximately $84 million for Highway 101 safety improvements and other projects in the area. Bids and start of construction should be finalized by next spring. Bachman mentioned the Army Corps of Engineers has one problem (frogs) but that is being worked on. The result will be to eliminate most of the left-turn lanes against traffic along Highway 101. Bachman indicated that the Highway 101 work will reduce delays along 101 and result in fewer delays for visitors. As TAMC Executive Director Debbie Hale previously reported, CalTrans is working on a redesign of Highway 156 to eliminate impacts and, along with some minor improvements to the Highways 156 and 101 interchange and the Highway 101 work, could result in a project that costs less than $100 million and significantly improve traffic flows. Bachman pointed out that eventually the interchange will have to rebuilt at a current cost of $250 million, but in the meantime everything will help ease the flow of visitors; the current interchange is about 7 years old and was always intended as a stopgap measure (he added that sometimes you settle for stop-gap funding instead of no funding). TAMC does not have the funding currently to design or build the Highway 156 work and that federal funding is out of the question right now, but the good news is that savings on funded projects (for instance, the Salinas Road project in Salinas) has realized savings of about $40 million which could be available in 2012, about the time the environmental review of 156 is finished. The Davis Road and Reservation Road projects are still on the TAMC books but highly dependent on development at Ft. Ord. Chris Chidlaw thanked Bachman for TAMC’s help with the taxi issue in Monterey. Michael Bekker if there are any groups opposed to the improvements to Highway 156; Bachman responded that no groups have an overt policy against the improvements. Orman reminded the committee that Measure Z passed handily in north county, that it failed on the Peninsula; he strongly suggested that a coalition such as was established for Measure Z should be reestablished and maintained from now on and to remember that the worse traffic gets the more it costs his district in manpower and engines. Hank Armstrong asked what the start-finish estimates are for the Highway 101 work in Prunedale; Bachman indicated it should start next spring and be finished in four years depending on how the bids come in, and overlaps with the San Miguel Road interchange with Highway 101 (Red Barn). Narigi asked if MCHA should send a letter or a person to the CTC meeting to ask that the funding be approved. Bachman responded that it wouldn’t hurt and would get us the information later that day.
Task Force update report Chris Chidlaw reported on the results of the latest Task Force meeting (held July 29th). The Task Force will continue to deal with MCHA image issues but will primarily focus on City of Monterey issues and report on those to the committee (unlike the Government Affairs Committee, the Task Force is by invitation/appointment). Gary Cursio inquired how that squares with the Marina TOT issue; Chidlaw responded that it will and explained that Bob McKenzie would draft a letter to Marina voters opposing the TOT increase initiative and that he would be visiting with MCHA members and prospective members soon to gauge opposition. Chidlaw also reported MCHA’s intent to form a formal coalition with the Fishermen’s Wharf organization and Monterey Commercial Property Owners’ Association (MCPOA) to pursue downtown revitalization; he reported that the Fishermen’s Wharf could not agree to the funding requested (because they are fighting among themselves again) so the hoped-for funding for the coalition might now work. Narigi informed the committee that another coalition has been formed to follow the conference center issue and the circulation issue as a part of downtown revitalization (MBAG for now, a coalition of Monterey business associations group) and that he and Janeen Chicourat have been appointed to the Mayor’s Bleu Ribbon Commission. Narigi also reported that a subcommittee of the Blue Ribbon Commission will study opportunities for Monterey to sell some property and direct the proceeds to downtown revitalization efforts. Chidlaw also reported that a ‘protocol’ for Government Affairs meetings will be developed to maintain a respectful attitude at meetings and keep things moving and on track, keeping the meetings to an hour or an hour and half maximum.
Regional Taxi Authority Hunter Harvath reported that the initial meeting of the RTA will be held Monday at the Monterey-Salinas Transit offices and would take care of formalizing the RTA, its contract with MST and some other housekeeping issues. He reported that representative from the Airport would not formally attend because designation of an official representative is scheduled for the Airport’s Wednesday meeting. Cursio asked if there is any progress on the Airport metering issue and Harvath responded that Airport General Manager will present a temporary fix to the Board at its September meeting, and that a GPS-oriented system for airport taxi services is being explored as a permanent solution. Armstrong asked how taxi complaints will be handled; Harvath responded that RTA complaint information will be posted in each cab and that complaints could also be registered with the dispatchers.
Update on Monterey downtown revitalization Covered in Task Force report.
Update on Regional Water Project Narigi and McKenzie gave a brief report on the City of Monterey 3-2 vote not to endorse the amendments to the Water Purchase Agreement that give Peninsula cities a Municipal Advisor to the Regional Desal Project (the other five cities agreed to the amendments) and a recent meeting with Monterey Councilwoman Libby Downey, the principal architect of the 3-2 vote against. She did not change her mind and neither did MCHA, which strongly supported the amendments.
Update on water factors/allotments Narigi reported that he and Mike Zimmerman met with a Cal Am representative Joe DiMaggio and MPWMD representatives the day before; all agreed that the new allotments work adequately for the District in terms of permitting new or increased uses of water but that they do not work at all for Cal am billing purposes. According to DiMaggio about 10% of commercial users have hit tiers two or three recently; he acknowledged that the billing system is unfair and is looking for ideas on how to improve it. Narigi indicated that this is an issue that MCHA should be on top of and suggested a task force for it. Steve Ellzey and John Turner volunteered to serve on a task force and Chris Chidlaw asked that forming a task force to deal with the billing issue be placed on the MCHA Board agenda next week to formalize its creation. Bob Brower informed the committee of an example of the problem with the billing system where a 36 room motel pays less on average than a 32 room motel because the 32 room facility does its laundry in-house and the 36 room facility does not. Brower also informed the committee informed the committee of a controversy over carryover of water credits on the MPWMD Board’s August 16th agenda; he believes the old system of carrying water credits for five years with a possible extension on application for another five years is preferable; he indicated that Board Member Alvin Edwards voted against the old system in committee and worries that he might again at the Board. Brower encouraged attendance at the August 16th Board meeting about 9 am to address this issue.
Current action items Endorsement of Anthony Cannella for State Senate The committee discussed endorsing Cannella for State Senate and concluded that more folks like him are needed in Sacramento. On a formal vote with three abstentions (Harvath, Armstrong, Cursio) the committee recommends to the Board that MCHA endorse Cannella for State Senate.
Discussion/recommendation on state propositions Deferred to the September meeting.
Issue reports On a water-related issue, Michael Bekker reported that Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency (MRWPCA) did approve the wastewater discharge rates he sent an alert about and that he was the only business representative in attendance at the meeting.
Steve Ellzey briefly addressed the stormwater alliance issue he has worked on for some time and stated that the alliance is now reaching out to hotels and asked that hotels, if they have the capability, put reminders on their in-house communications systems. Bekker and McKenzie confirmed that a MRWPCA representative would address this and related issues at the September Government Affairs meeting.
Chris Chidlaw thanked Ellzey for the taping of spots he’s doing for his LZ Report on the Access Monterey Peninsula public television channel.
Next meeting, adjournment The next government Affairs meeting will be held on Thursday, September 2nd at 8:30 am at InterContinental The Clement. Harvath adjourned the meeting at 10:05 am.
Prepared by Bob McKenzie
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