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Supervisor Ranalli recommending the Board:
1) Revisit the County's position of "conceptually oppose" on SB 649 (Hueso) as directed by the Board on June 27, 2017;
2) Consider the approval and authorization for the Chair to sign a letter addressed to Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. requesting that the Governor veto SB 649 (Hueso); and
3) Send a copy of the executed letter to California State Senator Ted Gaines, California State Assemblyman Frank Bigelow, California State Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, the Rural County Representatives of California, and the California State Association of Counties. (Est. Time: 15 Min.)
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As part of the June 27, 2017, Board of Supervisors meeting agenda (agenda item #12), Supervisor Ranalli recommended the Board approve and authorize the Chair to sign a letter addressed to California State Senator Ben Hueso in opposition to his SB 649, which proposed/proposes to require counties and cities to lease publicly owned infrastructure for the placement of wireless "small cell" equipment, and provides for an approval process that eliminates public input and local jurisdictional control.
The agenda materials submitted for the Board's consideration included the June 20, 2017, version of the bill and position memos detailing the position of oppose taken by the Rural County Representatives of California, the League of California Cities, the California Chapter of the American Planning Association, the Urban Counties of California and the Protect our Local Streets Coalition. At the time of the Board's discussion, SB 649 was pending consideration by the Assembly Committee on Local Government.
After significant discussion, the Board opted (5-0) to direct staff to draft a conceptual response letter outlining El Dorado County's concerns of the proposed current legislation subject to modifications that would add the interests of the County. The Board submitted a letter to Senator Hueso, dated July 12, 2017, stating "conceptual opposition" to his bill and provided that, "Unless the bill is amended to, at minimum, retain the current level of public input and local jurisdictional control, the County of El Dorado cannot support SB 649."
On September 14, 2017, the California State Senate provided the final approval for SB 649. The bill, now in its final form, as amended September 6, 2017, will be presented to the Governor for his consideration. The final version of SB 649 did not include language that addressed the County's concerns as discussed and approved as part of the June 21, 2017, Board meeting.
The Rural County Representatives of California, the League of California Cities, the California Chapter of the American Planning Association, the Urban Counties of California, and the California State Association of Counties remain opposed to SB 649.
As the final version of SB 649 does not address the concerns as identified by the County of El Dorado specific to the level of public input and local jurisdictional control, Supervisor Ranalli respectfully requests the Board's reconsideration of the "conceptually oppose" position.