January 1, 2012
Looking Ahead to 2012
This new year will again be a busy one for our city. A number of issues
will be on the plate for the city council. These topics will be part of
maintaining and improving the quality of life for our citizens and the
effectiveness of our city operations.
Streamlining our Zoning Codes
The goal is to simplify and clarify review processes for remodel and construction
applications. In 2011 we achieved significant Phase 1 improvements in our
Planning review processes. Up to 60% Architectural Review permits are
issued administratively, instead of by full ARB hearings. New windows
guidelines have eliminated the perrenial contention on window selections for
remodels. A Phase 2 is in progress, addressing additional code cleanup and
updates. These updates are important for making the best decisions for our
city today.
Our Urban Forest - Plan and Ordinance
The city's tree policies have created strains over many years. We now have
before us a draft Urban Forest Management Plan and Tree Ordinance. These
new versions will address many of the issues of contention from the past two
years. We look to have a more active city role in maintaining our public
trees and forests, while allowing more common-sense discretion for decisions on
trees on private property. The range of passions on this topic are too wide to
reconcile all points of view. Still, I feel a reasonable compromise is
emerging.
City Budget
Pacific Grove is one of the few fortunate cities in Monterey County to achieve a
balanced/surplus budget for 2011/2012. Our city manager has achieved major
savings, while still delivering improved services on a number of fronts.
Still, we see new strains for the coming year. The council has reviewed
possible revenue enhancement opportunities, though none will be easy to achieve.
We will also need to watch expenses closely. Police salaries from a 2004
contract agreement and CalPERS contributions will bring extra costs for the next
year.
CalPERS
Our city has taken some distinctive actions on our CalPERS obligations. We
are now in a lawsuit challenging those actions. It is very important that
we resolve those issues in court. There is broad agreement that our public
safety costs are a serious problem. There is widespread disagreement on
what steps we can take to cure the problem. The very aggressive and
experienced attorneys of the League of California cities have reviewed the
issue. They conclude that there are very significant constraints in law
that cannot be easily brushed away. We need to move beyond the strident
and utterly impractical assertions of a few citizens in our city, and pursue the
pathways with more promise. But first we need to reach a conclusion on the
lawsuit. More on this later.
Golf in PG
We have recently learned that our Golf Enterprise Fund is losing money. At
some point, subsidies from our general fund may be necessary to support our golf
course. That would mean golf would compete with street maintenance, the library,
and public safety for our expense dollars. It would be far preferrable for
our golf operations to be self sustaining, and thus restore the enterprise fund
to a healthy level. A recent consultant report noted 15 actions that could
improve our golf operations. A council subcommittee is studying those
recommendations. I feel it is very important that we find actions from
that report to improve our golf finances.
Please contact me at bill@billkampe.org
if you have comments on any of these topics.
A Closing Thought
I believe the desire for a positive spirit is strong in PG. I
believe that we can find ways to work together. I believe we can
create the future we desire for ourselves and for our city. Yes we can!
Bill Kampe