Big Brother Has a Name: SCAG

I've heard two general sentiments regarding SCAG:  They are a wonderful organization that improves the quality of life for everyone; and, SCAG is the Big Brother regulatory body we were warned about.  But which is right?

Since I am running for election to represent the taxpayers and voters of Fullerton, a member agency of SCAG, I thought it was time to do a little more homework on SCAG to see if the organization is beneficial or detrimental to the residents and business owners of my hometown.  I started by going to http://www.scag.ca.gov/about.htm.

I found a wealth of information from which I conclude the following:  SCAG is HUGE;  SCAG is a taxpayer-funded organization;  SCAG seeks to destroy the autonomy of a city's incorporation; SCAG is the embodiment of big government gone horribly wrong; SCAG is an unnecessary bureaucracy that makes housing MORE costly by over-regulating development.  Sound a little harsh?  Let me explain.

Let's begin with the organization's Mission Statement: An international and regional planning forum trusted for its leadership and inclusiveness in developing plans and policies for a sustainable Southern California. I am always suspicious when I read "sustainable" in a mission statement.  Not that I want an unsustainable Southern California but because I think we need to focus on creating a system for sustainable governance before we worry about everyone else.  Sustainable governance is a system of governing in which a government utilizes only the financial means available without burdening the residents, business owners, and tax payers with increased taxes disguised as fees. 

Next, let's consider some of SCAG's history and why I think they really exist.  From their website we have this: The fundamental question of why SCAG was created is best answered in the words of Ventura County Supervisor John Montgomery back in 1966, who said, "Regional planning is not a matter of if, but rather when and who. Regional planning must come via cooperation and mutual assistance. Regional planning will (either) be accomplished through local governments working together or by big brother mandates from state and national governments."

So, in order to avoid mandates from State and Federal agencies, our local governments got together to implement their own mandates upon one another.  That's absurd.  Cities incorporate to free themselves from County/State control and to have some autonomy.  Why then would cities like Fullerton, Brea, and Anaheim create and/or join SCAG?   To be a de facto government agency that does not answer to voters but is financed by tax payers.  They get to create all sorts of regulations for its members, some of which may be good and some are detrimental to the civic well being of the community.  

SCAG boasts that, SCAG is mandated by the federal and state governments to develop regional plans for transportation, growth management, housing development, air quality and other issues of regional significance. 

And the most telling information regarding SCAG is found in the following paragraph:
SCAG was formed on October 28, 1965, when elected officials from 56 cities and five counties met at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. SCAG, initially governed by a 20-member Executive Committee, was charged with conducting growth forecasts and regional planning. To help accommodate new responsibilities mandated by the federal and state governments, as well as to provide more broad-based representation of Southern California's many cities and counties, SCAG's Bylaws were amended in 1992 to expand the Executive Committee to a 70-member Regional Council. SCAG changed its regional representation to correspond to population size and established districts based in part upon population.

There is some very important information to consider.  First, they met at the Biltmore.  That's a pretty classy place even in 1965 that you and I (ok, technically my parents and grandparents) paid for through taxes.  Second, it mentions of state and federal mandates, but it leaves out which mandates those might be.  Third, SCAG has created districts to be more representative of the population.  And SCAG continues to grow. 

During the past four decades, SCAG has become the largest of nearly 700 councils of government in the United States, functioning as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Southern California. SCAG is mandated by the federal and state governments to develop regional plans for transportation, growth management, housing development, air quality and other issues of regional significance.

Notice how proud SCAG is of its own growth.  Much like a redevelopment agency that consumes a city, SCAG is consuming whole counties! 

In addition to the six counties and 189 cities that make up SCAG's region, there are five County Transportation Commissions (CTCs), the Tribal Government Regional Planning Board and the Imperial Valley Association of Governments that have primary responsibility for programming and administering transportation projects, programs and services in their respective jurisdictions.

I would like to see how much these public employees earn as directors and board members and what their pensions look like.  It's time we pull the veil of mystery off of this monstrous regulatory body and see it for what it is: a government within a government that is not accountable to the taxpayers who fund its existence.