San Diego transportation and land-use officials looking to revamp the way decisions are made locally, are considering several proposals for a “superagency” consolidating several jurisdictions under one roof.
The drafts are modeled after the Regional Infrastructure Transportation Authority proposed earlier this year by State Sen. Steve Peace, D-La Mesa. The new proposals, along with RITA, are each being evaluated by the Joint Agency Negotiation Team on Consolidation, chaired by San Diego City Councilman Byron Wear.
The joint panel, which reports to the San Diego Association of Governments and other planning agencies, met July 26 to discuss the proposals. Most of these rely on some form of consolidation, and each has its strengths and weaknesses in addressing current problems in transportation and infrastructure planning, Wear said.
Currently, many different agencies have control over local transportation, including Sandag, the Metropolitan Transit Development Board, the North County Transit District and the San Diego Unified Port District.
Communication among these boards is often a problem, leading to frustrations, he said.
There is little accountability in transportation-related decisions. Also, because regional transportation issues and land-use issues are connected, transportation decisions can affect residential land uses, densities, siting and other factors, leading to increased housing costs. In addition, San Diego has yet to settle the question of where to site an airport suitable for the 21st century, Wear said.
Five Plans Considered
The joint panel looked into five different plans July 26. Peace’s RITA proposal would merge Sandag, MTDB, NCTD and other agencies into one massive organization, while the new group’s plan would reorganize and expand Sandag into a massive umbrella agency, he said.
The “Portland model” would be similar to the RITA plan, with a board of elected officials reporting to a countywide agency with regional authority. Another option is to expand the Board of Supervisors from five members to nine. A Sandag-like agency would report to the board, which has decision-making authority, Wear said.
The last option is to leave the current decision-making bodies intact, perhaps augmenting each of their roles, he said.
Each of these five proposals, in turn, has a number of variables. In each case, the question remains whether to fold non-airport functions of the San Diego Unified Port District into the main agency. Another factor is a timeline for implementation and how San Diego should transition from the current methods to the new plan, Wear said.
Also, any new organization might or might not have authority over local land-use decisions , and if so, the question is how much authority other agencies will have to give up, he said.
No Favored Proposal Yet
Currently, no one proposal is favored over any of the others. The joint panel has evaluated each proposal, but has not yet reached a decision on which is the best, said Michael McLaughlin, director of planning for Sandag.
McLaughlin said interagency cooperation on transportation and land use issues is a very complex matter, and said the group would probably need more time. It’s too early to tell what would come out of their discussions, but he predicted the panel could go for a “mix-and-match” proposal.
The joint panel is working with several groups and officials, including Peace, to determine which model would be the best for San Diego. Peace is working to shape his RITA bill based on his work with the group, and may bring the matter before the state Legislature as early as Aug. 31, Wear said.
Dan Howle, Peace’s chief of staff, confirmed Peace and Wear were talking on a regular basis. He also indicated it was possible there could be some movement before Aug. 31, the deadline for action in this legislative session.
Elected Or Appointed Officials?
Peace and Wear are very close on a number of issues. The only serious disagreement that remains is whether the resulting agency should consist of officials elected specifically to run that board, or officials who come to the board by being elected to other positions. That’s the model used by Sandag, whose members consist of mayors from the various cities in San Diego County, Howle said.
Howle believes RITA or any comparable plan will not be affected by a recent ruling by the Federal Highway Administration stating that Sandag will continue to be the region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization. According to a decision by Michael Ritchie, administrator of the California division of the FHA, Sandag will continue to be responsible for allocating millions of dollars of federal highway funding.
Howle notes that if Sandag ceases to exist, the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s authority can be transferred. If local government representing 75 percent of the region’s population votes in favor of transferring the organization’s power, and the governor agrees, the new organization would become the MPO agency, he said.
Given the choice, local officials would prefer getting millions of dollars in highway money over keeping Sandag, Howle said.
McLaughlin disagreed, saying the decision on the Metropolitan Planning Organization means exactly what Ritchie said it meant.
As for the Legislature, the joint panel’s work will continue whether or not the Legislature moves before Aug. 31. If Peace presents his RITA proposal to the Legislature, the joint panel will be the one to evaluate the results, McLaughlin said.
It could also be possible that the legislative solution defers to the joint panel, and joins in a partnership with the consolidation, but that remains to be seen, he said.
