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DC Trip Focuses on OC Issues
On March 28-30 I spent three busy days in Washington, DC advocating for a number of issues affecting Orange County. The weather was beautiful, the cherry blossoms were abloom and Congress was in session. On my visits I was accompanied by Jim McConnell, a DC lobbyist representing both the County and the OC Transportation Authority. I brought four issues forward:
Transportation Funding: OCTA has a list of 14 projects for which we are seeking $97 million in federal assistance. While I recognize the federal deficit may trim future allocations, any such allocations should include a fair share for Orange County. There is also the issue of the proposed OC-to-Riverside County tunnel, with a federally-authorized joint powers authority enabled to study and build this visionary project.
Flood Control: Control of a 200-year flood of the Santa Ana River requires the raising of Prado Dam, a project of the Army Corps of Engineers. Additional funds are needed to acquire lands in the new flood plain, as skyrocketing prices have made the dairy lands affected more valuable to potential developers. To complete the project, these lands must be acquired and kept as open space.
Multilingual Ballots: Changes are sought to the Voting Rights Act to reduce county costs and clarify vague standards. Specifically, naturalized citizens who define their own English speaking ability as “well” or “very well” should be considered English fluent. Additionally, the Justice Department should not force the County Registrar to presume lack of fluency based on a voter’s surname, as is currently the case. With these two clarifications, much of the burden and future proliferation of costly and divisive multilingual ballot requirements would be eased.
Eminent Domain: Following the controversial Kelo decision, the Board of Supervisors is on record as supporting eminent domain reform. Congressional efforts are underway to further restrict eminent domain for private gain.
I visited all six OC Congressional offices; Loretta Sanchez, John Campbell, Ed Royce, Ken Calvert, Gary Miller and Dana Rohrabacher, as well as Senators Feinstein and Boxer. In addition I visited the offices of Representatives Joe Knollenberg (R- MI), Steve King (R-IA), Peter King (R-NY) and Maxine Waters (D-CA) whose committee memberships deal with OC issues.
The key flood control meeting was with Chris Altendorf, Deputy Director of the Army Corps of Engineers. I also met with Ruben Barrales, the White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Larry Naake, Executive Director of the National Association of Counties.
Meetings with Congressional committee staffers included Kim Betz of the House Judiciary Committee and Ryan Triplette of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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