SB 375 - Central Planning (A Bill the OBM Machine Loves) Trashed by McClintock
Posted by: Aaron Park | 09/01/2008 8:12 PM
SB 375 is a Sierra Club endorsed brainchild of Darrell Steinberg. Like most issues, Charlie Brown has yet to take a stand - but Charlie's Friends Jennifer Montgomery and the Sierra Club love this Bill.
SB 375 would centralize planning, basically screwing over Suburbs in an effort to force development back to city centers. What is sinister is that SB 375 could allow School Bond money to be taken away from districts as well. That's correct, even if Measure Q passes - SB 375 could allow the State to raid the bond money because of how it is written.
While Brown chides McClintock for not doing his job - McClintock did his job, setting Steinberg and others who are promoting this partial birth abortion of land-use on fire. Not bad for a SoCal politician that doesn't know where Placer County is... huh?
SB 375 would centralize planning, basically screwing over Suburbs in an effort to force development back to city centers. What is sinister is that SB 375 could allow School Bond money to be taken away from districts as well. That's correct, even if Measure Q passes - SB 375 could allow the State to raid the bond money because of how it is written.
While Brown chides McClintock for not doing his job - McClintock did his job, setting Steinberg and others who are promoting this partial birth abortion of land-use on fire. Not bad for a SoCal politician that doesn't know where Placer County is... huh?
SB 375 - Steinberg
Urban Cores
Mr. President:
The Orange County Register summed up this bill very accurately when it asked, "Want to live in a condo by the train tracks?"
Some people do, and they're welcome to. But most people - particularly those with families - want a yard for their kids to play in; they want a lawn and a garden; they want a little distance between themselves and their neighbor.
And in a free society, people have that choice. Those who want to live in a condo by the train tracks can do so and those who want to live in a quiet, tree-shaded neighborhood can do so.
And government once respected these individual choices and provided the infrastructure to accommodate them.
What rankles the left is that most people prefer the quiet, tree-shaded neighborhood. That's why they move to the suburbs - so that they can enjoy what the left now scoffs at - what we used to call "the American dream."
Under this legislation, the "American Dream" of raising your kids with a back-yard and swing-set and a barbecue and a little elbow-room is to be replaced with something the liberals are calling the "Preferred Growth Scenario."
And let's be clear on what they mean by "Preferred Growth Scenario." It isn't about your preferences for your own life. They're talking about their preferences for your own life. And for your family's life.
They prefer that you move into dense urban cores - and they are prepared to manipulate public policy and misuse government authority to force you to do so.
What is this brave new world? It is very precisely defined by this politburo edict as a density of 20 families per acre living a half-mile from a busy transit corridor. (That's roughly three and a half times the population density of San Francisco).
If you comply, you'll be rewarded with streamlined regulations that are otherwise stifling development and a cornucopia of tax revenues taken from those who don't choose this Brave New Preferred Growth Scenario.
This says to the millions of Californians who have rejected this lifestyle: "Tough. We know what's better for you and your family than you do."
This says to the millions of voters who have supported one bond measure after another: "Tough. You are not going to receive the proceeds of your taxes unless you conform to this Brave New Preferred Growth Scenario. The money that you thought you had voted for highway construction under this bill will instead be used for so-called transit villages, or more accurately, dense condominiums next to a train track."
I'm curious to find out how many of the elitists who vote for this measure have actually made that choice for their own families. I suspect very few.
This bill is the ultimate victory of bureaucratic central planning over individual freedom of choice. Apparently, the sponsors believe that it worked so well in the old Soviet Union that we ought to give it a try here.
Mark me down as skeptical.
Women's right to vote didn't exist until they fought for it. Blacks rights for equality didn't happen until...
Day Five of the McClintock Per Diem Watch.
Welcome to Aaron Park Red County Placer consecutive post number...
(let me look...calculator is smoking..hmmm...can't process numbers that high)
Where does Charlie Brown stand on SB 375 and the Preferred Growth Scenario? Does he support taking tax revenues away from Placer County and sending them to wealthy Democrat cities that comply with this new hellish mandate from Sacramento?
If Charlie Brown is unwilling to fight for Placer County on this critical issue, what issues will he fight for?
Tom McClintock's principled opposition to the Soviet-style centralized planning that the Democrats are seeking to impose provides a great illustration of why we need him in Congress.
Tom,
How about spelling out what you don't like about this bill instead of the phrase "hellish mandate"? Why is it hellish? Can you provide an objective analysis that evaluates both the pros and the cons or are you just going to list all the cons?
Why would a Congressional candidate weigh in on a California State Senate bill? Isn't there enough to worry about at the federal level? What do we elect State Senators for if not to represent us on bills like this? Why aren't you directing your question to Cox and Aanestad?
Tom, you've never seen a government program that you like. You and PCRA wade into areas you don't even understand carrying the "no new taxes" banner. You even weighed in on the budget for Colfax Elementary School for God's sake. Take a chill pill.
Bob
Some of the specific problems with SB 375 are somewhat difficult to address because the bill itself is an "enabling statute" that authorizes unaccountable bureaucrats to adopt regulations that have the force of law. The bill text uses many vague phrases like "to the extent practical" and "to the extent possible" that have different meanings to different people. Since it will be several years before the bureaucrats are required to act, many of the individuals who will ultimately interpret the law and adopt future regulations have not even been appointed yet. As a result, we are forced to speculate about the rules they are likely to adopt. However, given recent history and Governor Schwarzenegger's proclivity for appointing Big Government liberals to positions of power, we can safely assume that the new regulations will be horrendous.
Even if angels were appointed to implement SB 375, there are still fundamental problems with this approach to governance. Decisions about local land use should primarily be made by land owners themselves. People who have put their own blood, sweat, and tears (and life savings!) into their own property are in the best position to decide how best to use it. To the extent that neighbors may be adversely impacted, it may sometimes be appropriate for local elected officials to get involved. However, taking land use decisions away from land owners and local elected officials and giving the decision-making power to Soviet central planners is never a good idea. In many respects, this is a form of tyranny. Decisions should not be made by unaccountable bureaucrats living hundreds of miles from the property owners whose lives they are ruining.
From the perspective of taxpayers, it is particularly outrageous that local revenues could be shifted from the communities where the taxes were paid to politically-connected and influential communities in other parts of the state. Taxpayers will think twice before approving local bonds and tax increases once they find out that un-elected bureaucrats have been empowered to shift local funds to distant communities based on the whims of the bureaucrats and the influence-peddling politicians who appoint them.
In closing, I should answer Bob's point about why a Congressional candidate should weigh in on a California State Senate bill. As Bob should know, Congress controls federal transportation funding, including projects requiring local matching funds. Many projects funded by Congress will be impacted if Governor Schwarzenegger signs SB 375 into law. Again, if Charlie Brown doesn't care about transportation funding, what does he care about? What would it take to motivate this guy to take an interest in Placer County?
As to Placer County's Senators, Aanestad and Cox, both of them helped lead the opposition to SB 375.
Basically this Bill is saying we should stop expanding our suburbs and all move downtown into small condos and apartments. It's a rediculous idea, that surprisingly, has generated a lot of press. I don't want to live like people in San Francisco. I enjoy my 1 acre lot, my spacious home, and not living in my neighbors' space.
Good job Tom for standing up against this one! Just another time you have looked out for our interests, thank you.
O, Bob, you are as tedious as a tired horse, a railing wife; worse than a smoky house.
I notice (from a review of publicly-available information) that both Dan Lungren and John Doolittle have had nothing to say about SB 375. In fact, a quick check of Doolittle's official website shows that he has had nothing to say at all since he announced he wasn't going to run again. Posts on his Issues and News pages stopped in late 2007.
Why isn't anybody calling for these current Northern California Congressmen to weigh in on this bill?
Oh Bob, in you confusion now has made his masterpiece!
Gheez Bob - where are Brad Sherman and Barbara Lee on SB 375!!!
Your excuse is quite weak - we have one CD4 candidate doing major war against SB375 and Charlie Brown doesn't even know what the hell it is!!!
Checkmate...
BTW, did you see that the Enviros lost in court at the 9th Circuit today? Hint... it was about FIRE PROTECTION. The Sierra Club once again was trying to ensure judicial oversight of every fire remediation project - giving validation to my claims about Enviros suing over every form of forest management.
WWCBD? Issues are flying out all over the place and you and your friends at the AJ want two minute answers. You can't continue to hide.
Where is Doolittle on SB 375? For that matter, where is Doolittle at all? Seems like he fell off the face of the Earth.
Good thing, in my book.