Paying the Piper and Calling the Tune in Placer County Politics and Planning

It's early days yet in this election cycle, and so far Mr. Kranz has collected a hefty ninety thousand dollars. Royal Gorge LLC, by the way, is responsible so far for fifteen thousand dollars worth of that sum, but as they also donated to Congressman Doolittle's PAC, which has been more than generous to Kranz , and as there's some time to go before the election, they may be sending a little more love Supervisor Kranz's way.

Does all this moola doled out by developers affect how business is done in Placer County? That would probably be a question better addressed by a grand jury, but I'll relate a recent occurrence at the interface of planning and politics, and let you draw your own conclusions.

On November 21, 2007, Royal Gorge LLC quietly delivered hundreds of pages of planning documents, including an extensive "Water Supply Alternatives" document, to Placer County Planning. At the very same time as Royal Gorge LLC was secretly handing these items to Placer County for the county to comment upon, they posted on their webpage the news that they anticipated a submittal of their plans after the first of the year. On December 3 my husband called Placer County planning to see it there were any updates on the progress of Royal Gorge LLC's project, and he was told that there had been a submission of plans and documents, but that they were not open to public review, as they were "administrative draft." We made the first of many record requests under the California Public Records Access law that day. We were joined in our requests by a newspaper, The Union, and a lawyer representing Serene Lakes Property Owners Association (SLPOA). It must be noted that Placer County had no tenable claim to block access to these items submitted by Royal Gorge LLC.

Placer County's head planner really dug in his heels, and would not allow access to any of the documents, as he had made a prior agreement with Royal Gorge LLC that he would keep these documents from public view. He went so far as to say that he would be sending all the documents back to the developer, and hence, the "county files include no documents responsive to your request".

His letter to me, plus a letter from Royal Gorge requesting the return of the documents (sent to the county 10 days after my initial written request to access the records), and a chain of emails involving the records may be found on the "documents" page of www.saveserenelakes.org. Meanwhile, all of Royal Gorge's submittals had been duplicated and circulated to all relevant departments at Placer County with a target date of the first week of 2008 for comments. Of particular note, the "Water Supply Alternatives", which ran to hundreds of pages with appendices, had a notation on its second page, "The information contained herein is being provided simultaneously to Placer County, the public at large, and the Sierra Lakes County Water District (SLCWD). The SLCWD did not participate in the preparation of the report, did not review the report prior to its issuance, and has not approved the report." Despite this notation Placer County even refused to give the document to SLCWD, the elected county water board that controls water decisions affecting Royal Gorge LLC!

A letter sent by me to the County Supervisors demanding access to the documents went unanswered. However, before Mr. Johnson was able to get all the records bundled off back to Royal Gorge LLC, SLPOA's lawyer got a court date scheduled for Christmas Eve to get a temporary restraining order to halt the return of the plans and documents. Apparently nothing really talks like having to appear in court the day before Christmas. At that point Placer County caved, and was willing to stipulate to retain the records, and, fully cognizant of the fact that sometime in January they were going to have to cough it all up, plus pay SLPOA's attorneys fees, they got the developer to "agree" to let the public view them, and the records finally became available the first week of January.

All's well that ends well, right? Not exactly. Citizens shouldn't have to spend an entire month fighting with a county to view plans submitted by a developer that are clearly public records. Hassle factor aside, there are larger questions that linger. First, who or what motivated Michael Johnson, the head planner, to agree in advance with the developer Royal Gorge LLC that their plans would be shielded from public scrutiny?

Second, why did Mr. Johnson feel that it was more important to honor his prior 'gentleman's agreement' with Royal Gorge to hide the records from the public than to allow the public to view the records once access was requested? Third, is this 'business as usual' for Placer County planning, or was this special treatment for a particularly favored developer? Does every large proposed development that promises to enhance Placer County's tax base get this treatment, or is it reserved for developers who have special relationships with the county? As an aside, second home developments are real moneymakers for Placer County, as they plump up the tax base, and don't put a lot of pressure on schools, and other infrastructure.

And how does this pertain, if at all, to Supervisor Kranz? When interviewed by the Sierra Sun about the records dispute, he, according to their article of January 6, "Royal Gorge Posts New Plans Online" said he pushed for public involvement from the very beginning. "When they first came to me I said, 'Do yourself a favor and work with the community," Kranz said in a phone interview. "This isn't the old days when you could say, 'I have this locked up.' [Those days] are long gone."

All those poor developers, yearning for the the 'good old days'. But back to donations to supervisor's war chests, and specifically, Supervisor Kranz's well endowed war chest. Do developers who make those huge contributions expect to call the tune, as they've paid the piper? If so, in my mind the only tune the piper will play is "Flowers of the Forest", which is an old Scots tune reserved for funerals and memorial services. A dirge for the future of Donner Summit, if Royal Gorge LLC, because of their special influence has their way, no matter the consequences. Perhaps it's time for Supervisor Kranz to consider recusal?
For another article about this development, see “Royal Gorge to be Gouged? The Politics of Development on Donner Summit.”

Kathryn Gray is a graduate of the School of Social Ecology, University of California at Irvine, and Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley. She and her husband, Joseph Gray, founded a specialized semiconductor company in 1989. Now retired, they spend their time on environmental causes, including monitoring the large development proposed on Donner Summit. More information on this development may be found at www.saveoursummit.org