State lawmakers have made it clear that their top priority is dealing with a much larger money problem. California faces its own crippling budget deficit. As a result, representatives from the city have been stymied in their efforts to meet with the top Senate and Assembly leaders, the so-called “big five.”
“Right now, getting the attention of the big five is very difficult,” said John Knox, a consultant working for the city from the law firm, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. “The $11 billion budget crisis is consuming all the attention up there, and so we’ve got to let that play itself out.”
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In April, the City council agreed in a court settlement to pay would-be Beachwood developer Charles Keenan $18 million in June 2009 unless the city can secure development rights for 129 homes on the vacant property north of downtown. However, that proved to be easier said than done.
Assembly Bill 1991, which would have allowed the development and ignored otherwise relevant environmental law, was opposed by a coalition of state environmental groups that decried it as a potential loophole to California coastal laws.
In August, the city scrapped AB 1991 in lieu of an alternate bill supported by state Sen. Leland Yee that would have committed $10 million from affordable housing funding for parks to the city. However, both bills were essentially stalled from intransigence.
Yee has said that he would author a second bill to help the city. The senator’s office has not revealed any specifics, except that in order to help Half Moon Bay, the legislation would need to be an urgency bill — which requires a difficult two-thirds majority to pass.
It is unknown how much Half Moon Bay could recoup from any legislation. Yee’s representatives have said that they were willing to negotiate as low as $5 million with opponents who were stalling the bill.
Mayor Bonnie McClung has said that even if the city received $10 million from Sacramento, Half Moon Bay would still have drastic financial troubles because it would have to pay back the remainder with a bond issue. The mayor said that she hopes the city can receive $15 million from the state.
City Councilman Jim Grady says that the city has spent lots of money to enforce the state’s Coastal Act and he thinks that should count for something in Sacramento. In his view, rigorous enforcement of the state’s coastal laws effectively led the city into the Beachwood land-use mire.
“We’ve gone to court a number of times and we paid for that out of our pockets,” Grady said. “My hope is that Sacramento is going to look at our request positively.”
Knox says that the city will have to be pragmatic and take what it can get. He said that the sooner Half Moon Bay can get any legislative aid, the better it will be for the bond process.
“The best of possible worlds would be to get as much of that $18 million passed and to have that money in hand,” he said. “Then we could issue bonds for that leftover amount only.”
Newly elected Assemblyman Jerry Hill, who has taken the seat of AB 1991 author Gene Mullin, has said that helping Half Moon Bay will be a priority in his first year at the Capitol.
“I want to find out how I can best help the city, whether legislatively or otherwise,” Hill said. “I look forward to working with Sen. Yee on a solution.”
Hill said that he was confident that Half Moon Bay’s concerns could be given priority when the Legislature reconvenes. However, the assemblyman said he could not support another version of AB 1991.
“I’m not willing to circumvent environmental laws,” Hill said. “It’s important that the environmental issues be studied and evaluated before anything takes place.”
The City Council has not officially decided to pursue another round of lobbying in Sacramento. However, Knox says that, given the city’s desperate situation, gambling on legislation is a good bet.
“There’s no guarantees in life, and there are no guarantees here,” Knox said. “But to say, ‘We can’t take that risk,’ when two legislators are willing to help — I can’t image the City Council will do that.”
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