Three Orange County cities voted this month to withdraw from the California League of Cities, with some leaders saying the advocacy group isn’t representing their pursuits and has handed an excessive amount of energy over to the state.
The California League of Cities is a nonprofit advocacy group based mostly in Sacramento that communicates with cities about legal guidelines being mentioned within the state legislature, conducts coaching for metropolis officers and provides native governments a chance to affect statewide insurance policies. Out of 482 cities in California, the league counts greater than 470 as members.
However elected officers in Newport Seashore, Huntington Seashore and Orange have opted to withdraw their cities’ membership over numerous points, together with the group’s help of Proposition 1.
California voters this month narrowly handed the $6.4-billion bond measure that goals to reform California’s psychological well being system. The bond will help 10,000 remedy and housing beds and overhaul a 20-year-old tax for psychological well being providers to additionally fund remedy for drug dependancy.
A majority of Orange County voters — roughly 58% — solid a poll in opposition to it with many voicing issues that it may imply extra sober residing properties in neighborhoods, a difficulty that cities have tried to control for many years.
“I need to ship a message that they shouldn’t have been on board with Prop. 1 within the first place,” Huntington Seashore Councilman Tony Strickland mentioned throughout a council assembly this month. “Their job is to symbolize us on the native authorities, to not symbolize Gavin Newsom.”
Orange County for years has been considerably of a thorn within the facet of Gov. Gavin Newsom and different progressive politicians in Sacramento. In the previous couple of years, O.C. cities, together with Huntington Seashore, pushed again on housing mandates handed down by the state. On the peak of COVID-19, some cities fought Newsom’s choice to quickly shut seashores, and opposed different laws adopted elsewhere within the state.
Cities exterior of Orange County have additionally stepped away from Cal Cities in recent times, together with Torrance and Redondo Seashore.
League of California Cities Govt Director and chief govt Carolyn Coleman mentioned in an announcement that she respects the town’s selections to depart and the group will proceed to advocate for the pursuits of all cities no matter membership.
“Whereas not everybody will agree on each place Cal Cities takes, Cal Cities’ advocacy positions are the results of a member-driven course of that mirror a basic perception that cities in California are stronger once we stand united and advocate for the widespread pursuits of all cities,” she mentioned.
Coleman added that the group has taken severely issues they’ve heard concerning the impacts of an over-concentration of sober residing properties and licensed restoration services in Orange County and elsewhere in California. Cal Cities has sponsored laws that may create extra oversight and regulation of the services.
On Tuesday, the town of Orange turned the third municipality within the county this month to depart Cal Cities. Councilmember Kathy Tavoularis blamed the town’s monetary outlook as one motive for recouping membership prices and an absence of energy over coverage selections.
Membership charges are based mostly on inhabitants, with a metropolis the dimensions of Orange paying barely greater than $34,000 a 12 months.
“I don’t suppose we’ve had any affect,” she mentioned. “We definitely didn’t with Prop. 1.”
Newport Seashore was the primary O.C. metropolis to again away from the group on March 12. The town had been a member because the group started protecting data.
Mayor Will O’Neil took subject with the league’s help of Prop. 1 and the group’s opposition to the Taxpayer Safety and Authorities Accountability Act, a measure that may develop the definition of a tax and lift the voter threshold to approve native taxes, amongst different issues. The measure is scheduled to look on the November poll, however is dealing with a authorized problem.
Cal Cities has known as the measure “misleading” and argues it could impair essential public providers.
“It’s simply unfathomable to me that when Cal Cities knew this was going to be dangerous to a metropolis like ours, they nonetheless stood up and mentioned we’re gonna help it,” O’Neil mentioned of Proposition 1. “It’s so laborious to need to be part of a company that’s alleged to be advocating for us and did the precise reverse in such a high-profile manner.”
Newport Seashore Councilman Erik Weigand, who additionally doesn’t help Prop. 1, voted in favor of staying within the group arguing that there’s a profit to having a voice within the group even when issues don’t go their manner.
“We’re within the state of California so we will take our ball and go dwelling, however meaning we don’t get a seat on the desk and we don’t get a capability to form any of these coverage discussions,” he mentioned.
Per week after Newport Seashore determined to not renew its membership, the Huntington Seashore Metropolis Council voted to depart. The vote fell alongside celebration strains with Democratic councilmembers Natalie Moser, Dan Kalmick and Rhonda Bolton voting in opposition to the transfer.
The council requested metropolis workers to attempt to get their membership dues reimbursed so they might exit this 12 months.
Councilman Casey McKeon, who introduced forth the concept, mentioned the group has “repeatedly failed in its mission to advocate for cities, and as a substitute advocates for extra and better taxes and Sacramento’s agenda over our personal.”
