SANDAG seeks to put rural advocate on board, hold meetings outside county

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | Saturday, January 28, 2006 12:17 AM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- A regional board tentatively agreed Friday, with some hesitancy, to put up money in advance for a new oversight panel charged with making sure that San Diego County wisely spends the $14 billion that it anticipates receiving from a transportation measure.

In November 2004, county residents voted to extend, from 2008 to 2048, a half-percent sales tax that funds construction of highways, freeway lanes and commuter rail lines.

Dubbed TransNet by government officials, the measure was first put in place in 1988.

During the recent campaign to extend TransNet, criticism was leveled at the San Diego Association of Governments, a regional planning and transportation agency, because some projects promised in 1988 were proceeding at about the pace of rush-hour traffic, if at all. One of the projects was a widening of Highway 76 between Interstates 5 and 15, which remains one-third completed.

In a bid to regain the public's trust ---- and votes at the ballot box ---- the association board a couple of years ago broached the idea of an independent citizens oversight committee to serve as a watchdog over TransNet's second round. The concept became part of the package that was sold to voters in 2004.

Committee Chairman Michael Boyle said that a seven-member panel composed of a lawyer, engineer, environmentalist, construction contractor and others was formed last April, and they began holding meetings in May. But he said the panel needs money to start doing its work in earnest.

The TransNet extension provided for up to $250,000 a year to go to the panel. But there is a problem: The cash doesn't start pouring in until spring 2008.

"If you wait until 2008, the train will have left the station," Boyle told association members Friday.

Boyle asked the board to set aside for the oversight panel some of the cash it borrowed against the new measure to jump-start projects ahead of time.

While generally supportive of the request, some board members wanted assurances that the panel wouldn't use the money to try to rewrite the plan for the TransNet money.

"I don't think their job is to prioritize projects," said board member Christy Guerin, Encinitas mayor. "They need to look at the dollars and make sure that we have gotten the biggest bang for our buck."

Board member Jack Dale of Santee said he hadn't realized that the panel was going to need high-priced consultants.

However, association Director Scott Peters, a San Diego councilman, urged colleagues to help the oversight panel "ramp up."

"This is a protection for us," Peters said.

In other matters, the board voted unanimously to expand its membership to 21 directors.

The new board position, for the first time, guarantees unincorporated areas a seat at the huge U-shaped SANDAG table in downtown San Diego. The board will seek state legislation to add a second county supervisor, one elected from one of the two districts that have large chunks of rural territory.

While residents of unincorporated areas generally support the change, they stress it will only help their cause if their designated representative takes the time to listen to concerns and advocate on their behalf.

The board also decided to see legislation to set the stage for holding meetings in Riverside, Orange and Imperial counties, and even across the border in Mexico. In recent years, the agency has attempted to work more closely with its neighbors, but current law restricts formal meetings to within San Diego County.

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 740-5442 or ddowney@nctimes.com. To comment, go to nctimes.com.

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