Developer Raul Madrid, who submitted the proposed legislative amendments that State Senator Mike Morrell introduced as SB 646 – one amendment that prohibits forced annexation in exchange for water and another that governs fees the City may charge, the latter of which was passed through Committee – contacted Senator John Moorlach’s office in regard to the previously-believed-dead amendment to Government Code Section 66013(b), added as (b)(2). Sen. Moorlach is a member of the Governance and Finance Committee which is considering SB 646 before it is forwarded to the entire Senate for passage.
Sen. Moorlach’s staff stated that 66013(b)(2) is not dead but is in limbo; it will be sent back to Legislative Counsel and then returned to the Governance and Finance Committee from which, if all goes well, it should go to the entire Senate. [Ed.’s note: Now MM knows why all of Section 56133 was crossed out as posted previously on MentoneMatters.org: so the amendment to section 66013(b) would be the only one enacted at that time.]
Various Redlands and LAFCO personnel have stated their belief that Mentone will be in Redlands someday. Now is a good opportunity for everyone in Mentone to contact the Senators on the Committee and ask them to vote in favor of the rest of SB 646.
As previously reported, the Committee members are:
Senator Mike McGuire, available at senator.mcguire@senate.ca.gov.
Senator Melissa Hurtado, available at senator.hurtado@senate.ca.gov.
Senator John M. W. Moorlach, available for contact through his official website, here.
Senator Jim Beall, available for contact through his official website, here.
Senator Jim Nielsen, available for contact through his official website, here.
Senator Scott D. Wiener, available for contact through his official website, here.
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, available for contact through his official website, here.
Because these Senators are from all over California, be sure to explain why it is so important to us in Mentone. You are welcome to write your own letter or use the following, by either e-mail or snail mail:
“State of California Senatorial Governance and Finance Committee
Senator Mike McGuire
Senator John M. W. Moorlach
Senator Jim Beall
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg
Senator Melissa Hurtado
Senator Jim Nielsen
Senator Scott D. Wiener
State Capitol, Room 408
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: SB 646
Dear Sirs and Mme:
I reside (or am a property owner) in Mentone, California, an unincorporated territory which has been forcibly taken over by Redlands, piece by piece, for many years. We in Mentone object to the forced annexation, which is required in exchange for water and – where it is available – sewer services to any new developments, and believe it violates the law prohibiting extortion. That is, although we are in Redlands’ sphere of influence, they have no right to demand that we give over governance of our area to Redlands, instead of the County.
We are aware that people from Redlands have been very influential against this bill, solely for their own interests, but that doesn’t make it right that the bill should die in committee. We have very few other resources with which to fight Redlands’ greedy takeover. Please pass this bill through your committee. Thank you.
Very truly yours,
[Your name]”