CCA Delivers

JUNE 9, 2006
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Board Approves Permit for Sunshine Canyon Landfill Update on Increase of Fire Inspectors Downtown AB 2987 - Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006- Update Staff Briefs

EVENTS CALENDAR More Event Updates Coming Soon!

UPCOMING COMMITTEES Open to Business Advocacy and Executive level members only JUNE 20 PUBLIC SAFETY, HEALTH AND HOMELESSNESS - Special Guest: Torie Osborn, Special Advisor to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, to speak about Mayor's plan to tackle crime & homelessness Downtown JUNE 21 HOUSING, LAND USE & DEVELOPMENT - Tom Gilmore of Gilmore Associates to present on Saint Vibianas and Mark Wareham, Director of Planning at Keller CMS, to present on Urban Partner's adaptive reuse of Herald Examiner Building and University Gateway project July 13 URBAN DESIGN - Special Guest: Councilmember Ed Reyes to provide update on L.A. River Project

Board Approves Permit for Sunshine Canyon Landfill

On June 7th, the Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2, with Antonovich and Yaroslavsky dissenting, to grant Browning Ferris Industries (BFI), the operator of Sunshine Canyon Landfill, a replacement conditional use permit that would allow the company to merge its separate dumping operations on land owned by the county and the city of Los Angeles into a single landfill. Victor Franco Jr., Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at CCA, testified at this hearing in support of the revised CUP. This vote overrules an earlier decision by the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission, which denied BFI's request to combine the two landfill operations.

The 1,528-acre landfill can currently accept up to 12,000 tons of garbage per day. The creation of a single landfill could result in a more efficient landfill operation, less air pollution, as equipment will be focused on a single site, and maximized county revenues, as existing capacity will be fully utilized. However, a merger still requires approval from the City Council and Wednesday's vote by the Board also called for a possible end to dumping at the site after 30 years.

Update on Increase of Fire Inspectors Downtown

The City Council's Public Safety Committee held a second hearing on June 5th regarding increasing the number of fire inspectors certified to inspect Downtown adaptive reuse and high-rise projects. CCA's Victor Franco Jr., testified at Monday's hearing.

New fire inspectors will be added through the City's regular budget process and the creation of an Enterprise Fund to provide additional inspectors is still viable. This matter will be heard in Council on June 14th.

AB 2987 Update

By a unanimous vote, the full state Assembly passed AB 2987 on May 31st. This bill, introduced by Assembly Speaker Nunez and Assembly Member Levine, overhauls the State's cable television licensing system, by doing away with city-by-city franchising in favor of creating a single statewide system. The Senate is expected to take up the bill later this summer.

CCA's Management & Operations Committee, comprised of CCA's Executive officers, voted to support AB 2987 earlier this year. Victor Franco Jr. testified at City Council's Inter Governmental Committee’s hearing on June 9th, in support of AB 2987. The Committee moved AB 2987 to the City Council's Information Technology and General Services Committee with CLA staff recommendations to oppose the bill.

• On Monday, CCA sent a comment letter to the California Department of Mental Health regarding the Mental Health Services Act's emergency provision requiring that all programs and/or services provided with MHSA funds be voluntary in nature. CCA urged the Department to give counties the option to use MHSA funding for involuntary treatment services as well so that local programs can fit local needs.

CCA IN THE NEWS

But Carol Schatz, president and chief executive of the Central City Assn. of Los Angeles, says the DWP proposal seems fair. "I hope the neighborhood councils can look at what's best for the city as a whole," she said. "I don't think rate increases have kept up with running the agency." May 21, 2006, Los Angeles Times , " Opinions Split on Raising DWP Rates ," by Stephen Clark

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