|
Monday's Internet Edition, January 05, 2009.
RMA board shoots down Calif. vehicle code enforcement
|
Photo by Wendy Smith
Residents show up to see a vote on a proposal that would enable off-duty sheriffs to enforce the California Vehicle Code within the gates of Rancho Murieta. However, the proposal died at the Rancho Murieta Association’s monthly board meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16. Shown (from left) are directors Mike Martel, Bonita Jones, Dick Cox, Candice Koropp, Jim Moore and Mel Standart.
|
By Wendy Smith
River Valley Times Staff
-
A proposal that would enable off-duty sheriffs to enforce the California Vehicle Code within the gates of Rancho Murieta failed to even make it to a vote at the Rancho Murieta Association’s monthly board of directors meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16.
The proposal, brought to the table by RMA president Dick Cox, originated out of the Joint Security Committee. When brought to a vote at the RMA meeting, the proposal lacked a second needed to continue.
The issue would have permitted members of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department to serve as off-duty backup to the Community Services District Security team to write official tickets recognized by the county while in the gates of RM. “We’re not inviting in the whole SSD,” said Cox. “However, if they are already working within our gates, it would give them the capacity to write official tickets that come with fines from the county that would go on driving records.”
Director Jim Moore was against the proposal, saying that it did not address the greatest issues facing RM. “I don’t think that this will really change anything for the better. This isn’t dealing with vandalism or people stealing things out of cars. I don’t think that this is focused in the right place,” Moore said.
Director Candice Koropp was in favor of increasing the scope of the proposal. “I think we should expand this to include things like leash laws as well,” she said.
Koropp was the only board member who supported the proposal, and she made the official motion. However, when it failed to find a second supporter - the proposal died on the table. President Cox, due to procedural rules, is not allowed to make motions or seconds on proposals.
The board also voted to let the contract with Comcast Bay Area to lapse. This is a sports channel that covers bay area sport teams. Director Mel Standart explained that the cost of the channel alone had increased to such an extent that it made no fiscal sense to keep it. “I think it is prudent to let the contract lapse given the financial concerns we have in this economy,” he said.
Koropp agreed, but wanted to make sure that the membership would be happy with the decision. “I think that we should let the contract lapse for now but be open to renewing it at a later date should a significant number of people decide they want that channel,” she said.
In addition, the board and staff are continuing their work to redefine parking rules, guest and resident definitions and household pets. They are also looking at revamping the way that they approach parking variance requests, seeking to streamline the process so that the Architectural Committee handles most of the cases rather than having them come through the board’s hands first. This would save time during meetings and potentially make the process faster for those seeking variances.
The RMA’s next board meeting will be on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 6:30 p.m. They will be discussing the results of the Freedom of Choice Vote and what it means going forward for the board’s contractual and legal obligations to the cable company.
|
Online publication, Copyright 2005, The River Valley Times.
Web page design,
Copyright 2005, EZ Edit Web Publishing.
|
|
| |