For some time, CSAC has joined with the League of California Cities and the California School Boards Association to form the Cities, Counties and Schools Partnership (CCS).  CCS has been primarily focused on programs common to all three associations, principally those involving kids, but recently has turned its attention to state budget issues and budget reform.  CCS has formed a Budget Reform Task Force, on which all three associations are represented.

Recently the League of California Cities’ Board of Directors adopted a resolution “endorsing the convening of a summit of local government leaders on reforming the governance of California.”  The League has invited CSAC and CSBA to join them in sponsoring such a summit.  The resolution (copy attached) was discussed with the CSAC Executive Committee at their April 23 meeting.  The Executive Committee recommended the resolution to the Board of Directors and directed staff to work through the CCS Task Force to begin preparation of such a summit.

The CCS Task Force met last week to discuss how such a summit could be conducted to ensure efficiency and production of an outcome that is agreeable to all three associations and useful to their members.  A tentative date and location for the summit has been established – Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Sacramento.  It is anticipated that each county will be asked to send a delegate to the summit representing that county.  Of course, all local government officials would be welcome to attend and the summit will be open to the public and the media.

The CCS Task Force is considering a preliminary draft of a joint statement of principals that could be considered as a starting point for discussions.  I have attached a copy of that draft.  This document, as well as the resolution, will be the subject of intense discussion during the upcoming CSAC Board of Directors meeting.  That meeting will take place Thursday, May 28 as part of the annual CSAC Legislative Conference.

As I am sure you can tell from the resolution and draft statement of principals, the discussions before the Board of Directors will be far-reaching and extremely relevant to the issues of the day.  Other topics, such as the May Revision(s) to the state budget and state cash flow impacts on California counties, will be discussed, making this Legislative Conference a “must see” event.   If you have not yet registered for the conference, you still have the opportunity to do so.  You can register by clicking here.

Paul McIntosh
Executive Director
California State Association of Counties
www.csac.counties.org