As the County Supervisor representing the unincorporated community of Ladera Ranch, I had the honor of delivering the State of the Community address on August 21 at the State of the Community breakfast hosted by the Ladera Rancho Chamber of Commerce. For those who were unable to attend the event, the following is
the text of my speech:

Good morning and thank you for inviting me to join you today to provide a brief update on happenings here in our fabulous Fifth District. Then I spoke to you last year, we were bringing the Peaker Plant
Chapter in the Ladera Ranch story to a close. And as
you all know we had a happy ending to that chapter because of the efforts of your community leaders who worked collaboratively through my office with the County Planning staff.

As a result of those efforts, approval of the project’s permit by the OC Planning Commission was rescinded and the project proposal was withdrawn.

That issue, which caused much anguish and division within your community, provides a classic example of what can happen when there is not clear and consistent communication among developers, government permitting agencies, elected representatives and the public to resolve differences on such issues.

To be effective, the government process must strive to be transparent and provide broad opportunities for project proponents and the community to review, dialogue, debate, and reach a consensus on plans for activities, events, and new developments.

That is why over the past year my staff and I have been working with your community leaders to develop an officially recognized body of elected representatives who will serve as that strong communication link between the Ladera Ranch Community, project proponents and County government.

This will ensure that all Ladera Ranch issues have broad review and input at the community level before they come through the County’s approval processes. In this way, it is my hope in the future we will avoid such unnecessary and costly controversies for the community.

A current issue of growing concern to your community, especially during these tough financial times, is that of Mello-Roos taxes. A newspaper recently reported that rates may go up this year which, unfortunately, caused both confusion and concern.

I have with me today a fact sheet on the Mello-Roos Community Facilities District Finance Program that will hopefully answer some of your questions.

Additionally, I will be directing that an audit of the Ladera Ranch Community Facilities Districts be initiated by our County Internal Audit staff to ensure that Ladera’s CFD’s are in compliance with the original development agreements and that all funding collected and tax rates applied through Mello-Roos are legal and are being appropriately applied to the financing of Ladera’s public facilities or infrastructure and when its complete I will provide the report to the community.

I have raised the issue of the importance of communication in dealing with the government decision-making process because Ladera Ranch’s voice is increasingly important not only on local infrastructure issues, but also on a number of regional issues that will affect your community. These include transportation and the issue of future governance of South County’s unincorporated communities.

Briefly, on the transportation issues: I’m happy to report that CALTRANS has moved rapidly forward on improvements to the I-5/Oso Parkway offramp. My office worked with CALTRANS and the California Transportation Commission to expedite funding for that project in order to accelerate its construction. Originally planned for the 2010-11 construction cycle, it should now be completed by the end of this year.

Another important improvement for South County commuters that is underway is signal synchronization on the East/West arterial system. Last year a pilot project on a segment of Oso Parkway between Laguna Hills and Mission Viejo funded with Measure M monies demonstrated up to a 31% reduction in travel time with drivers stopping at red lights 50% less in the morning and evening commutes.

As a result of the success on this pilot study, there are now plans to expand signal synchronization to more than 2,000 intersections throughout the County including the entire east/west Pacific Park/Oso corridor and the Alicia Parkway corridor.

Our arterial road system in South Orange County will also see another significant improvement within the next 4-5 years and that is the extension of La Pata Avenue. This is a $60 million project which will connect RSM and Ladera Ranch to San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente.

As one of the priority road projects in South Orange County, our Public Works Department has increased efforts to secure the federal environmental clearances needed so construction on this vital link can begin in early 2014.

And finally on the transportation front, plans for the completion of the 241 Toll Road are still alive. As you know, the Coastal Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce handed the project a major setback by denying the road’s consistency with the California Coastal Protection Act.

Since then, the Transportation Corridor Agency, TCA, has been diligently working with community stakeholders, opponents and proponents, on an alternative alignment - one that will remove the road alignment from traversing State Park land.

The road’s intrusion into the State park created the strongest opposition to the project -so TCA engineers have been tasked with redesigning the alignment to remove it from park lands. It is hoped that by achieving that goal a major obstacle to completion of the 241 will be overcome.

Community participation is absolutely vital to this process so I encourage your community, which will greatly benefit from this alternative route, to stay actively engaged in this and in all efforts toward improving our mobility here in South Orange County.

Before I close, I want to touch on the issue of what the future holds for Ladera Ranch. Clearly, with the establishment of your own Chamber of Commerce, which has graciously hosted us today, as well as the implementation of a community Civic Council, Ladera Ranch has taken significant steps in creating a strong community identity and is moving toward local control and self-determination.

Over the past year, your community leaders and I have initiated discussions with the Local Agency Formation Commission charged with approving new government organizations regarding Ladera’s options for future self-governance. Your community, as a whole, will need to weigh in with LAFCO on a number of governance options to determine your interest and support for becoming a city and annexing or combining with other local communities such as Las Flores and/or forming a city that will include the future Rancho Mission Viejo Community at build out.

Twenty years ago this December, my community of Laguna Niguel stood at the very same crossroads so I can assure you from my very own personal experience this is, and will continue to be, an exciting time for all of you as you have the unique and inspiring opportunity to become actively involved in charting your own destiny. As always, I will stand with you to support your decision and assist in any way possible. Meanwhile, my office continues to be available to you as a resource for all your County needs. Again, thank you for the opportunity to join you today.