Fountain Valley Council Votes to Support Plan to Remain Part of Supervisory District 2

The Fountain Valley City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to support a plan that would allow the city to remain entirely within Orange County Supervisory District 2.

Earlier in the month, the committee charged with handling the redistricting process had several configurations on the table, two of which divided Fountain Valley in half. Mayor Steve Nagel said that the city had been divided in the past, and that it had a hard time getting things done at the county level.

In what was intended to be mostly a formality to finalize the city's intention to enter the state's alternate redevelopment program, the council ended up in a relatively testy discussion, both with council meeting regular Edward Ludford and among themselves.

"You're going to send $3 million to the state and never see it again, all in the name of playing the revelopment game," Ludford said. While that was a zero-sum game before, now we're talking about shipping the $3 million in funds to never see it back. I think you've made a mistake."

Council member Mark McCurdy voted against the measure, as he did when it was first introduced last month. Several council members defended the move, including Nagel, who argued that sending the $3 million required by the state to enroll in the program would protect some $36 million in city assets. Crandall agreed, adding that the city would continue to fight Gov. Jerry Brown's budget and hope that it's overturned by the California Supreme Court, which has agreed to address the matter.

The council also voted to begin the process that would potentially raise the city's water and sewer rates by Nov. 1. The proposed new water rates would be based on a tier system that would encourage conservation. Average users would see about an 8 percent increase, while excessive use would bring an rate increase of about 20 percent. The proposed increases for water and sewer combined would still place Fountain Valley's rates among the lowest in the county. A public hearing will be held Oct. 4.