Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Ronald A. Zumbrun
Todd M. Ratshin
(916)486-5900
293 Word Count
CITIZEN GROUPS FILE APPEAL CHALLENGING OPEN SPACE DISTRICT’S ANNEXATION OF COASTAL SAN MATEO COUNTY
Sacramento, California [January 30, 20071: Today Citizens for Responsible Open Space (CROS) and Califomians for Property Rights (CPR) announced that they have filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal in their challenge to the annexation of coastal San Mateo County by Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD).
The appeal asserts that the annexation is defective by virtue of numerous errors committed by the San Mateo County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), the agency responsible for overseeing the annexation process. The appeal maintains that LAFCO failed to follow applicable legal requirements regarding its public notice, and that LAFCO and San Mateo County Elections applied erroneous legal standards when reviewing written protests which resulted in the improper rejection of hundreds of valid protests.
Terry Gossett, President of CPR, stated, “This case involves more than simple administrative procedures. LAFCO’s actions demonstrate a blatant disregard for the constitutional rights of the citizens of coastal San Mateo County. Two of our most basic, fundamental rights are at stake here: private property rights and the right to vote.
LAFCO has denied us both.”
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Nina Pellegrini, who heads CROS, added, “The conduct of San Mateo LAFCO and MROSD in pushing through this annexation is completely unjustified. MROSD’s efforts to annex our coastline lasted almost 10 years, and gave rise to a vigorous public debate among the citizens of coastal San Mateo County. LAFCO has clearly chosen to side with MROSD and annexation proponents, and has effectively quelled the voices of those opposed to annexation by manipulating the law to achieve its desired result.”
For more information on the challenge to LAFCO’s approval of the annexation of coastal San Mateo County by MROSD, please visit www.c4pr.org.