Under recommendations by a state-appointed commission on regional governance, three local agencies will be stripped of certain decision-making powers but will not be eliminated.
The San Diego Regional Government Efficiency Commission recommended the state consolidate the San Diego Association of Governments, the Metropolitan Transportation Development Board and the North County Transit District, but the agencies would still oversee current day-to-day operations.
Sandag would continue its planning duties and provide information on the region’s quality of life. The MTDB would still operate the bus and trolley system in San Diego, as well as areas to the east and south of the city, and the NCTD would operate the transit system in the North County. But the decision-making and actual governance of land-use and transportation issues throughout the county would be made by a new 11-member elected board of directors.
“What (the commission) seems to have done is remove governing boards and make one board that would be the governing board for all three agencies,” said Art Castanares, legislative director for state Sen. Steve Peace, D-El Cajon, whose initial proposal prompted formation of the commission. “Even though the entities may exist in name and in function, the governance is separate. That way you have accountability to the people.”
Seeking Change
The commission, headed by San Diego City Councilman Byron Wear, was created to satisfy demands by Peace. In 1999, Peace pushed legislation to consolidate Sandag, the MTDB, the NCTD, the Air Pollution Control District and the San Diego Unified Port District.
Peace’s legislation indicated the current model of regional governance wasn’t working and a change would need to take place in order to move the region ahead.
But local officials stepped in and asked to come up with an alternate recommendation.
Last spring, they formed the efficiency commission and studied various models of regional governance in Atlanta, Minneapolis and Portland, Ore., before coming up with a plan they said is the best for the county.
Critics, on the other hand, said forming a new agency without eliminating existing ones does nothing to solve the problem.
“Regionalism without efficient and effective consolidation is like designing a state-of-the-art vehicle and leaving off one tire,” said Harry Goodfriend, a representative of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association.
Goodfriend argued a true regional agency must be a single, full-time agency.
Common Ground
Wear said that’s exactly what the recommendation does. Wear said the three agencies proposed for consolidation will be absorbed into one group.
Although it’s not clear if Sandag, the MTDB and the NCTD will operate out of their present headquarters with the same staff, Wear said they will be brought together to work as one agency.
The three entities are expected to operate under the same annual budgets, but the funds will go to the new agency, along with additional funds requested from the state.
“San Diego is the first region in the United States to have this kind of decision-making power, and we’re going to be a model for the rest of the state,” Wear said. “There will be a complete reorganization of (Sandag, MTDB and NCTD), and it will create efficiency.”
Wear said although everyone on the 11-member commission didn’t get exactly what they wanted in the proposal, he said they agreed with 75 to 80 percent of it.
“I think there was a general consensus that we need some new, bold model in San Diego in order to be effective in the next 20 years. We can’t be business as usual.”
The commission also recommended:
– The 11 members of the new agency will include eight elected members, along with the mayor of San Diego, a member of the county Board of Supervisors and the chair of an advisory group.
– The eight elected members would serve four-year terms, earning about $100,000 a year.
– Formation of a separate regional airport authority with powers to site and build a new airport.
If the commission’s plan is approved by the state Legislature, it could go before voters in the March 2002 election.
