LAKEPORT — The City of Lakeport will be well represented among California cities in statewide policy committees this year.
Council members Stacey Mattina and Mireya Turner and Mayor Pro Tem George Spurr have been appointed as chairs and members to committees of the League of California Cities—a state policy-shaping association made up of elected and appointed officials from California’s nearly 500 municipalities. The league’s committees defend the interests of these municipalities in state and federal policies.
With league president and Grass Valley Council Member Jan Arbuckle’s recent announcement of Mattina and Turner’s appointments as committee chairs, Lakeport has become the only city in California with two league members heading up policy committees this year.
“I am proud to have Council Members Turner and Mattina and Mayor Pro Tem Spurr join the League’s policy committees on behalf of their residents,” stated President Arbuckle. “We will work together as a team, comprised of local front line leaders from across the state, to ensure that the local perspective guides the outcome of state policy decisions.”
“Stacey and Mireya both have been very active for years” in the league, said Lakeport Deputy City Clerk Hilary Britton Thursday.
Turner, as chair of the league’s Environmental Quality Policy Committee, will recommend policy positions on state matters involving air and water quality, CEQA, integrated waste management, hazardous materials, coastal issues and utilities. Turner will serve alongside committee vice chair Allan “Doc” Bernstein, Mayor Pro Tem of Tustin.
Mattina will chair the League’s Housing, Community and Economic Development Policy Committee, with responsibility for recommending positions on matters involving general plans and zoning, housing, rent control, Subdivision Map Act, residential care facilities, development fees, annexation and incorporation policy, development agreements and building standards including seismic safety standards.
Other issues are economic development policy including redevelopment and enterprise zones, military base closure and reuse, mobile home regulation and sign regulation.
Mattina will serve alongside committee vice chair Blanca Pacheco, a council member from Downey.
Spurr was appointed a member of the same Housing, Community and Economic Development Policy Committee which Mattina will chair. Spurr will also serve on the Transportation, Communications and Public Works Policy Committee, which reviews state and federal legislation and regulations related to transportation planning, technology, funding, construction, public works and telecommunications.
“The practice of the committees is to recommend to the league board of directors preliminary positions on legislation,” writes Britton in a press release. Based on existing league positions, adopted annual conference resolutions, and the collective knowledge and experience of the committee members.”
League members from East Palo Alto, Morgan Hill, South San Francisco, Citrus Heights and West Hollywood will chair the league’s five other policy committees this year. The seven committees are comprised of a total of almost 400 city officials.
More information on the league’s policy committees is available at www.cacities.org/polcomm.
