Sunday, October 05, 2008

Arden Arcade

The Sacramento Bee reports the good news that the effort to incorporate the area in Sacramento County—the unincorporated 13 square mile area located between Ethan Way on the west and Mission Avenue on the east, north of Fair Oaks Boulevard, and south of Auburn Boulevard—is still alive, which, considering the relative health of the newer cities in our region compared to the older, is a strong vote for the value of subsidiarity.

You can follow the effort on the Arden Arcade website.

An excerpt.

“Arden Arcade's cityhood effort has been re-energized by state legislation extending a financial boost to new cities.

“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law last week, and it could translate into millions of dollars for a new city of Arden Arcade – should supporters get enough residents in 2010 to vote to form a city.

“But the legislative action came too late to revive a moribund Rio Linda-Elverta cityhood effort. Organizers pulled the plug on their incorporation drive 13 days ago.

“Senate Bill 301, by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, removes a July 2009 deadline for newly formed cities to be eligible for startup funds.

“Romero said her focus was on East Los Angeles when she drafted the bill, but she quickly learned there were more communities that could benefit from it.

"The local issue was really a statewide concern," Romero said. "If we ever want to see another city incorporate in California, we needed to address this issue."

“Joel Archer, chairman of the Arden Arcade incorporation effort, said it gives new life to the cityhood drive. "It means full-speed ahead," he said.”