Page 5 - The Friday Flyer • October 14, 2016

OCTOBER 14, 2016 THE FRIDAY FLYER A-5 Candidates discuss disincorporation issue
BY DONNA RITCHIE
EDITOR, THE FRIDAY FLYER
Jordan Ehrenkranz, Larry Greene, Randy Bonner, George Middle and Dave Eilers are the five candidates running for City Council. Jordan is the only incum- bent on the list. The other candidates, with the exception of Larry Greene, have previously served on the City Council or the CLPOA Board of Directors.
The general election will take place on November 8. All Canyon Lake citi- zens registered to vote are eligible to vote for candidates to fill the three avail- able seats on City Council.
In The Friday Flyer’s weekly Q&A series that began on September 23, resi- dents have had the chance to learn how much the candidates understand about the City’s current and future challenges, what each candidate hopes to accom- plish if elected to serve a four-year term on City Council and where they stand on fire safety and BLM land development.
In this week’s Q&A, The Friday Flyer asked candidates to explain their thought on the possibility of City disin- corporation. Last week, candidates were listed in reverse order according to their last names. This week, candidates are listed in alphabetical order according to their first names.
Question:
In 400 or fewer words, please explain your thoughts on disincorporation.
David Eilers
I’m all about keeping Canyon Lake a city! Disincorporation is a bad word to me. At the Meet the Candidate’s fo- rum, the same question was asked and it was unanimous among the candidates
that no one was in favor of disincor- poration. Only after all other efforts to keep Canyon Lake a city have been exhausted, would I ever even consider disincorporation.
The Utility User Tax (UUT) doesn’t expire until Decem-
ber 31, 2020. The new City Council will need to make the best decisions regarding the needs of the community and keeping Canyon Lake a city.
George Middle
To disincorporate or not to disincor- porate, that is the question!
People, read the notes provided by John Knox and Chris Hutchinson called “Municipal Disincorporation in California.” The laymen reading will then understand the complexity of the
process.
A point to note is
that 25 percent-plus of the city’s regis- tered voters must sign the petition of
disincorporation.California law for this high financial procedure of disincorpo- rating a city involves four stages.
• Initiation of proceedings
• Consideration by the Local Agen- cy Formation Committee (LAFCO)
• Election
• Completion of proceedings LAFCO has a significant authority
and the substance of the proposal, with power to condition its approval on a “virtual limitless array of factors.”
Now to Canyon Lake City Disincor- poration.
First, does the City have funds to do its duties as a city in California and Riv- erside County? The Utility Tax was ap- proved at 3.95 percent by very few votes and voted for on the premise of pay- ing for security and fire services. This money, now paid into the City’s general fund, should be accumulating in a re- serve account to be used for the objec- tive we voted for?
The City has to pay for 24/7 external services, currently provided by River- side County Fire and Riverside Sheriff’s Perris Police.
It is my understanding that, without the utility tax, we cannot consider ever opening up Station 60. And that proba- bly an increase will have to be approved to open up with the currently mandated manpower by CalFire and the Riverside County Supervisors.
We can open up the station as long as we change the service model to a paramedic station only. My calculations show that the current Utility User Tax level will pay for this station 24/7, but is contingent on the citizens continuing the current level of UUT. Covering the low level of fire call needs can be negotiated with Riverside County.
Therefore, it is my belief we do not have to go through disincorporation as long as we accept this new “paramedic model” that meets our demands for med- ical emergency service. Contact me on gmiddle@ca.rr.com for an attachment that discusses this paramedic station in Canyon Lake.
Riverside County unincorporated land areas. They will provide service using the same inefficient safety model cur- rently provided: fire vehicles followed by AMR ambulance for medical emer- gency.
Jordan Ehrenkranz
DISincorporation is not a word that I would ever consider when it comes to the future of our City. Our City is be- ginning to rebound and our reserves are continuing to grow. Any word that be- gins with DIS is usually used in a nega- tive way. It would certainly be a DIS-
appointment to our founding fathers to attempt to DISband what they worked on very hard to accom- plish 25 years ago.
We need to DIS- play patience with regard to our future, and not let the nega- tive DIStraction deter us from the work that
is before us. There is much to do before we start a DIScussion to DIScontinue all the wonderful services that our City pro- vides to its residents - such as local con- trol led by a council elected directly by its residents, the council adopting its own rules and regulations based on input from the community, priorities for police and fire safety services are determined by the council, along with adopting ordinances related to land use regulations, building permits, business applications and street improvements.
If Canyon Lake ceases to be its own City, it will be governed by the River-
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