Guest Commentary
All Facts Needed Before Decision
The issue
of Ramona’s desire to incorporate is a complex subject. I want to personally thank Bill Clark for his
insightful thoughts in last week’s letter to the editor.
The first
concern was “Politicians and Bureaucrats”, will it be any different? Egos are always present in politics, weather
it be the County of San Diego, or local officials. The issue of Incorporation is about
Self-determination. It is also an economic
struggle. Ramona is about 30% of the
total land area of the 22 unincorporated areas that comprise the County of San
Diego. We now rely on the good
intentions of 5 County Supervisors, and 5 Planning commissioners for most of
our land use issues and contract services, including influencing road
improvement projects with SANDAG. None
of these people live in Ramona. We are
“Nobody’s Back Yard”. When it comes to
Ramona’s best interests, I trust Ramona residents more. They are my neighbors.
Bill also noted
that the cost for LAFCO, the full economic and environmental studies, the voter
petitions and registration, and the campaign may approach $700,000. He questioned if the contributors would want
to “see” something for their investment?
As much as $200,000 will be from matching funds, grants, and other
public sources. We have had a few
contributions of $2,000 to $12,000. Most
of the donations are smaller. These
contributors will have the distinction of being our Founding Charter
Citizens. They will be memorialized in
stone in Town Hall. Our plan is
simple. We are looking for $2,000,
$1,000, and $500 levels of contribution.
1,000 people contributing $500 each gets us there. That is $41.67 a month for 1 year. When you think about how much you spend on
your mortgage or utility bills to live comfortably, it seems like a small
amount to insure that Ramona’s rural character is preserved, and our future is
navigated by its own elected residents.
The costs for running a city?
The initial fiscal analysis by Rosenow Spevacek Group showed a first
year expense budget of $20.89 million.
Without having the actual revenue figures, the report demonstrated that
we were within $2.4million of balancing.
That was before AB1602 passed
which gives us an additional $3 million for vehicle license fees. We believe that when the full Feasibility
Study is completed and all the revenue figures are known, we will be clearly in
the black. The County has not been
forthcoming with these figures. This
process will remove all doubt. RSG
admitted it did not factor estimates for the equine industry or agricultural
revenue. The fact is, under the proposed
budget our level of police and fire services will be increased because LAFCO
will require it, and we still balance.
RSG also determined that we will NOT have payments for revenue
neutrality.
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General Law v. Charter Cities.
Most cities, including Poway, incorporate under General Law. This gives the city a great deal of latitude
in its decision making process. Because
of the diverse concerns here, we believe Ramona must incorporate under a
charter. This will set covenants under
which many decisions are made. A General
Plan, if you will. We understand the
desire of Ramona citizens to retain our area’s rural character. A desire to maintain its trails, and open
spaces. A desire to decrease density,
and provide larger lot sizes that will accommodate agriculture, and
horses. We are also confident that a
city so conceived can be profitable.
Napa and Sonoma are good examples.
A charter voted on by Ramona citizens will insure we stay the
course. It will give us the protection
of a covenant to resist temptation when developers court our planning commission
with $millions in improvements to get density increases. It will insure we adhere to the intent of the
City Founders, and preserve our rural character.
The City of Ramona, NOW! was incorporated as a Mutual
Benefit, Non-Profit California Corp. in 2004 with the Mission to bring the
issue of Incorporation before the people of Ramona in a ballot measure. It is up to the voting citizens of Ramona to
decide. Will we allow people that have
no vested interest in the area to continue with their vision of smart growth,
or, will we take the reigns ourselves and develop our vision of Ramona as a
Charter City.
We need your help.
It will be a big job. If you love
our town and are annoyed with the lack of adequate roads, hi density smart
growth, GP2020, no real say in major projects like the Sunrise Powerlink and
the Montecito Ranch development, the upcoming major expansion of the airport,
deliberate understaffing of fire and police services, the Traffic Impact Fee
hurting our local businesses, or just the fact that there is no central local
accountable entity to the people of
Ramona, we need your help. Together we
can make a difference. Together we can
forge Ramona’s future as an upscale rural area.
It is folks
like Bill Clark asking the tough questions that make me confident in my
neighbors, the citizens of Ramona, governing the future of Ramona.
Anyone
wishing to review the Fiscal Analysis, or be a part of Ramona’s history, may
contact us.
Paul Tarr
Director
City of
Ramona, NOW! Inc.
760-788-9600
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