CommentsDEEGAN ON LA-Just think of Bambi, and you have a pretty searing image of what can happen to wildlife when our tinder-dry hillsides ignite with flames, as they often do, especially in these drought-parched days.
Humans have equally stressful times living in the same tinderbox, but help is available to them by way of robo-calls and mass media warnings. A “yes” vote on propositions FF and GG on the November 8 ballot will enact a parcel tax (that only certain hillside property owners will be asked to pay,) bringing more help to protect the hillside built and wildlife environments – areas where there is a special need for increased fire prevention and more park rangers.
“The hillsides and canyons of the Mulholland Corridor east and west of the 405 are facing significant challenges,” said Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) Ranger Walt Young, who has been patrolling Mulholland Drive for more than 22 years. “After five years of drought, soil moisture is at a record low. Traffic has doubled in just four years, and the risk of dangerous activity is compounded by the surge in use of the scenic overlooks and other parklands. Funding from measures FF and GG will allow the MRCA to increase ranger patrol to seven days a week along the Mulholland Corridor, increase fire prevention and high alert fire patrols, and provide opportunity to acquire open space to protect wildlife and prevent development.”
Measures FF and GG ask selected hillside residents that are covered by each ballot proposition to vote on a parcel tax “...to maintain and conserve local open space, wildlife corridors, and parklands; acquire and protect additional lands from development; improve fire prevention including high fire alert patrols and brush clearing; protect water quality in local creeks; and increase park ranger safety patrols.”
Measure FF, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority-Area 2, is for the hillside communities of Woodland Hills, Encino, and Tarzana, and would implement a $15 special tax for ten years only, providing $241,000 annually with all funds spent locally in the area.
Measure GG the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority-Area 1, is for the Santa Monica Mountains and Hollywood Hills east of 405 freeway, and would implement a $35 special tax for ten years only, providing $995,000 annually, with all funds spent locally.
Speaking about the value of FF and GG, Alison Simard, Chairperson of Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife (CLAW) told CityWatch, “The wildlife don’t get the robo-calls that it’s red flag day, or the urgent messages that it’s time to get out. It’s hard for them to find their way out so they stay put. All the more reason protecting wildlife habitats and connectivity are so important to maintain.” She added that “there’s also an acquisition piece to these ballot measures, so there’s a chance that money can be used to purchase open space to protect wildlife habitat.”
What is surprising about this ballot measure is that it highlights a little-known agency (the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority) and funding mechanism (the Mello-Roos state law) that is the only game in town for this sort of contingency. That the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) exists, at all, and that it can take steps to put funding measures on the November 8 ballot is actually a pretty neat thing: they identified a need, such as fire prevention, additional park rangers and protection and possible expansion of wildlife corridors, and then organized a ballot measure to fund it; even more precisely, they targeted it to have the measure funded only by a select group of parcel owners in designated districts. Its closest analog may be a business improvement district.
Councilmember Paul Koretz (CD5), whose district has a significant portion of the hillside that is covered by Props FF and GG, believes that these measures will help. "I strongly support measures GG and FF, which implement a modest special tax in the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Areas, one East of the 405 and one West. They fund maintaining and conserving local open space and wildlife corridors, acquiring and protecting land from development, improving fire protection, protecting local water quality, and increasing local park ranger safety patrols,” says Koretz.
“I was involved in passing a similar measure around 15 years ago, which primarily saved the Briar Summit area from becoming a large development of single family homes, and instead protected open space and critical wildlife corridors. It was a great success and a blessing for hillside residents. I believe these measures will be as well.”
Just what is the MRCA/Mello-Roos combination? Is it a model that can be replicated in other instances and circumstances? The funding capability comes from Mello-Roos, a state law that was enacted after Prop 13 seriously curtailed property tax income. Mello-Roos provides for a “parcel tax” (not a tax levied against assessed value of the property, but on the “parcel”) – a financing vehicle that creates “Community Facilities Districts” to raise money through special taxes for improvements in the district. Two-thirds of the voters in the district must approve measures for passage.
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) is a local government public entity that was established in 1985 as a partnership between the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state agency established by the Legislature, and the Conejo Recreation and Park District, along with the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, both of which are local park agencies established by the vote of the people in those communities.
The role of the MRCA is the “preservation and management of local open space and parkland, watershed lands, trails, and wildlife habitat.” It also provides ranger services for almost 73,000 acres of public lands and parks that it owns and that are owned by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
“There’s not lots of city effort towards conservation, so we’re lucky to have these (FF and GG) boundaries established by state legislators” offered Tony Tucci, Co-Director of CLAW and a board member of the Bel Air Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council and a fan of the “community facilities districts” that Mello-Roos creates. He says the funds generated by Props FF and GG are “a local tax that stays local, and creates a great local investment.” Some people are repelled by taxes, but Tucci reports that “...there’s been no published opposition against the measures. What’s refreshing to hear from residents, when we talk about these measures, is that there’s never a negative response. People think it’s low cost for fire prevention.”
For the “Bambis” in our hillsides, ballot measures FF and GG can also be seen as a wellness tactic and a preventative measure to cut down on reckless firebugs (a tossed cigarette can instantly create an inferno.) These measures will provide more ranger patrols, increased fire protection, and protection and maybe expansion of their wildlife corridors. Props FF and GG are equal-opportunity winners -- benefitting all hillside residents, whether human or wildlife.
(Tim Deegan is a long-time resident and community leader in the Miracle Mile, who has served as board chair at the Mid City West Community Council and on the board of the Miracle Mile Civic Coalition. Tim can be reached at [email protected].) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
Help Save LA’s Hillside Wildlife and Built Environments: Vote ‘Yes” on Props FF and GG
