Why We Formed The CSD, And Why We Almost Decided Not To by Bud Toye, CSD President 1984-1996 The History of its Formation As Bell Canyon Association president in 1983, I received a phone call from Robert Braitman, the Executive Director of the Venture Local Area Formation Commission. LAFCO is a state created agency which exists in every county in California . The Commission is responsible for working closely with citizens, the county, cities and special districts on a variety of issues concerning jurisdictional responsibility and needed change. Its statutory purpose is to encourage the establishment of orderly governmental boundaries based on local needs and circumstance. Mr. Braitman explained that overlapping service responsibilities concerning the City of Simi Valley and Venture County recreation and parks districts raised the question of Bell Canyon ’s stake in any possible change in jurisdiction. Fully 7% of all property tax revenue paid to Venture County was redirected to the Rancho Simi Parks and Recreation District, an agency unable to provide services to Bell Canyon residents. Mr. Braitman suggested that we secede from that district and form a new one that could receive this misdirected revenue and then spend it to provide services for the residents of Bell Canyon. This sounded pretty exciting until we realized that there might not be any services that we could provide that would not compromise the community's private status. It was made clear that the use of public money spent for such things as roads, swimming pools, or other improvements must by law, be made available to any citizen from anywhere in the country. It didn't matter that the funds spent for such things was generated by the local residents. Anyone could challenge the blocking of these amenities to the general public and force Bell Canyon to allow access to anyone wishing to use them; even challenge the existence of the entrance gate itself. Excitement quickly gave way to concern. So we began a search for things on which we could safely spend the money. Curbside rubbish collection headed the list because one needed to be a resident to receive the service. It would be instantly popular because at the time, our private rubbish company was charging each resident separately and in many cases differently. The rubbish company justified its costly services by explaining that our steep roads were tearing up their trucks. When we eventually formed the CSD, we were able to negotiate a contract through competitive bidding, and the result was free trash collection to residents and at a cost to the CSD substantially less than the aggregate of the individual residential billings. If memory
serves me, another possible use of the funds would be to reduce or stabilize
water rates with subsidies from the CSD. We could do likewise for sewage
costs. Contracting for Emergency services was another. Because of the powers
granted to CSDs at the time, ours could function as a quasi city offering
many of the services which incorporated cities are empowered to provide.
So we
put it to a vote on the 1984 general election ballot. Also on the ballot
were the five candidates for the new CSD board. That was the fun part,
because there we were on the same ballot as Ronald Reagan for president.
We all won, and the CSD measure garnered a 99% affirmative vote.
My hope is that the residents of Bell Canyon will never lose their enthusiasm for this special gift from the county. I hope that the Association and CSD can always work together as one, and involve all the residents of the community with the ongoing process of defining the CSD’s primary mission as it continues to unfold. CSD revenue must continue to benefit the residents of Bell Canyon in ways that do not compromise the highly valued privacy of this unique place to live. Its an interesting responsibility because the constituents of Bell Canyon ’s two governing entities are different. The CSD answers to the residents of Bell Canyon , and the Bell Canyon Association answers to the property owners. Although both are one-in-the-same in most cases, their differences must be respected. So far so good, and I congratulate all who have worked so hard in the past 32 years to keep our vision alive. |