The undefined term "smart growth" has become the universally accepted solution for sprawl. But San Diego’s various levels of government have been anything but smart in crafting solutions to the problem. In response to Sen. Steve Peace’s legislation calling for the development of, "a plan for coordinated governance of regional agencies," the Regional Government Efficiency Commission (REGC) has recommended a cumbersome, bloated and expensive plan that would do the exact opposite.

A primary culprit blamed for sprawl and its myriad symptoms is the lack of coordination between the multiple layers of government responsible for the different parts of the regional planning picture. This conclusion isn’t hard to reach given the many levels that exist:

• Eighteen cities with separate planning and land use authority;
• County of San Diego with planning authority over the unincorporated areas of the county;
• Planning Commissions for each city and the county;
• Hundreds of community planning groups, neighborhood associations and town councils that advise the various municipalities;
• Water supply and quality agencies responsible for providing water and maintaining its quality;
• Transportation agencies responsible for planning, building and operating public transportation, roadways, and airports;
• The San Diego Association of Governments charged with some regional planning authority, but no means of implementation; and
• The County Air Pollution Control District charged with improving air quality for the entire county.

Sen. Peace responded to these concerns by authoring a bill that created the RGEC. The 11 member commission, chaired by San Diego City Councilman Byron Wear, has been meeting since February to determine a plan for submission to the Legislature.

The commission has worked very hard. Unfortunately, their recommendations to the Legislature fall far short of creating a truly integrated, consolidated planning approach that will ensure social equity and smart growth as hallmarks of the San Diego region’s future.

The proposed commission plan retains the current structure for existing agencies, combines some of their functions and creates the following new bodies:

• A 15 member Regional Planning Authority with 12 members elected from apportioned districts, joined by the Mayor of San Diego, the Chairperson of the County Board of Supervisors, and the chair of the second body, the Policy Panel;
• A Policy Panel consisting of representatives of at least 23 members, including the 18 regional cities, the County Board of Supervisors, the Port District, the Navy, unincorporated communities, transit agencies, and other agencies; and
• A Metropolitan Transportation Agency and Airport Authority.

Environmental Health Coalition calls on the State Legislature to reject the RGEC plan and consider EHC’s recommendation, which accomplishes the goal of creating an integrated planning approach using an existing body, the Board of Supervisors. Our plan would:

• Establish a Regional Government Authority, com-prised of an expanded County Board of Supervisors. The Authority would be responsible for all regional planning and implementation, including transporta-tion, land use, infrastructure and housing.
• Increase the number of County Supervisors from 5 to 11 to allow for enhanced public representation of the County as they take on additional regional duties. The new districts would be drawn in a manner consistent with the Voting Rights Act.
• Create a Regional Plan which delineates the regional infrastructure needs and require consistency with all city plans; and
• Expand SANDAG to include representatives from the 18 cities, Tribal leaders, the San Diego Unified Port District and other representatives to be determined to serve as a Regional Planning Advisory Panel.

Under the current Board structure, each supervisor represents more than 500,000 constituents, more residents than are represented by individual state assemblymembers. With 11 supervisorial districts, each supervisor would represent approximately 250,000 residents.