02-15-2018, 11:43 AM
I'm not a big fan of SanBuenaventura, but I have to confess that there are some glimmers of hope in that bill. First, this quote from the legislation:
"The legislature believes that, because the counties approve housing subdivisions and collect real property taxes from the owners in those subdivisions, it is appropriate that counties establish rules and procedures for, conduct audits of, and act as an oversight agency of the housing subdivisions or be required to maintain and repair the infrastructure of the housing subdivisions."
While I would be the first to question the ability of the county to successfully audit or oversee anything, some sort of mechanism for such is better than none. Who knows? Maybe they would be better at forcing rules and ethical practices upon subdivisions than they are on themselves.
And second:
"If a majority of the lot owners within a subdivision have authorized an association, corporation, or other entity to assess and collect fees for the repair and maintenance of the subdivision roads, the lot owners may elect by a majority vote to instead have the county in which the subdivision is located assess and collect fees from the lot owners and expend those funds to repair and maintain the subdivision roads."
Again, I doubt the county would do a great job with this, but could they be any worse than the people running HPP? We have constant bickering and allegations of everything from nepotism to financial irregularities to serial by-law violations. And all the while, the roads get worse and we waste money on chip seal. I drove down 23rd today, and the relatively new chip seal surface continues to fall apart. It was visibly worse than two days ago.
Yes, I know we might be jumping from the frying pan into the fire if this is passed, but at least SanBuenaventura is trying to do something. For the first time in her political career, I might actually write in support of one of her proposals to the legislature. I am further encouraged that the sensible Cindy Evans is a co-sponsor. The bill has been passed out of committee with a favorable recommendation, but I think it may be an uphill struggle to passage and enactment.
"The legislature believes that, because the counties approve housing subdivisions and collect real property taxes from the owners in those subdivisions, it is appropriate that counties establish rules and procedures for, conduct audits of, and act as an oversight agency of the housing subdivisions or be required to maintain and repair the infrastructure of the housing subdivisions."
While I would be the first to question the ability of the county to successfully audit or oversee anything, some sort of mechanism for such is better than none. Who knows? Maybe they would be better at forcing rules and ethical practices upon subdivisions than they are on themselves.
And second:
"If a majority of the lot owners within a subdivision have authorized an association, corporation, or other entity to assess and collect fees for the repair and maintenance of the subdivision roads, the lot owners may elect by a majority vote to instead have the county in which the subdivision is located assess and collect fees from the lot owners and expend those funds to repair and maintain the subdivision roads."
Again, I doubt the county would do a great job with this, but could they be any worse than the people running HPP? We have constant bickering and allegations of everything from nepotism to financial irregularities to serial by-law violations. And all the while, the roads get worse and we waste money on chip seal. I drove down 23rd today, and the relatively new chip seal surface continues to fall apart. It was visibly worse than two days ago.
Yes, I know we might be jumping from the frying pan into the fire if this is passed, but at least SanBuenaventura is trying to do something. For the first time in her political career, I might actually write in support of one of her proposals to the legislature. I am further encouraged that the sensible Cindy Evans is a co-sponsor. The bill has been passed out of committee with a favorable recommendation, but I think it may be an uphill struggle to passage and enactment.