|
| Committee votes 4-2 to send AB 1991 to Appropriations By Mark Noack [ mark@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 4:53 PM PDT SACRAMENTO -- Half Moon Bay city leaders won an initial victory in Sacramento Wednesday as the Assembly bill necessary to avoid an $18 million payout to Beachwood developer Charles Keenan made it through the policy committee. The Assembly's Local Government Committee voted 4-2 to pass AB 1991 through to the Appropriations Committee, which serves as the Assembly's fiscal watchdog. It faces a May 23 deadline to pass through Appropriations, though it may be heard prior to the deadline. From there it would go to the full Assembly, where it would need 41 votes to pass. In a previous Web update, the Review erred in reporting that the next step was the full Assembly. While Wednesday's vote was a victory for the city of Half Moon Bay, some of those who voted for the bill Wednesday expressed reservations. "I support it here in the committee as a way to move it forward but I don't know if I can support it on the floor," said committee Chairwoman Anna Caballero of Salinas. She urged bill sponsor Gene Mullin to seek some compromise between the city and environmental leaders who oppose a bill they say runs roughshod over state protections. Committee member and former Dublin Mayor Guy Houston, who also voted for the measure, was somewhat more supportive. He didn't buy the argument, presented to the committee by former City Councilman Mike Ferreira, that the city could recoup much of the $18 million it would pay if the bill doesn't pass by developing some parts of the Beachwood tract. "If the city tried to develop the land I don't think they would make any money," he said. |