How do we get the job done prudently.

By Ed Foglia

I am committed to acquiring and preserving our greenbelt of open space land as well as protecting and restoring the natural environment. We need proven leadership who will advocate on behalf of those who truly care about our open space and want them preserved.

Unless we acquire land or easements for public access we will have less open space area of land or water. Our open space provides for outdoor recreation, agricultural needs, greenbelts and urban buffers, and the preservation of significant scenic resources and viewsheds. ONCE WE LOSE OUR OPEN SPACE, IT IS LOST FOREVER.

With the high costs for land in Santa Clara County, it is imperative that we make prudent investments in a timely manner and maximize our financial resources. The following are key ways for the OPA to make prudent land acquisitions. · Each year, we pay a single resident parcel tax of $12 that yields almost four million dollars per year for open space acquisition. To date the OPA has a reserve of $15 million. · Two important bond measures, Proposition 12 and 13 that will provide direct dollars to Santa Clara County are $500,000 for Henry Coe State Park and $29,410,242 County Per Capita Allocation. The OPA would be eligible for $1.1 Billion in grants for parks, trails, conservation partnerships, riparian and watershed lands, improvement projects and recreation facilities. Under Prop.13, Santa Clara County, over the next ten years is eligible for $1.1 Billion in projects that include groundwater storage, rights to reoperate existing reservoirs, water treatment, water exchanges, agricultural water conservation, and treatment of agricultural drainage. · Encourage joint projects with nonprofit organizations such as SCCOPA and The Nature Conservancy joint acquisition of the Palassou Ridge Natural Area situated on the slopes of Mount Hamilton south of San Jose and east of Gilroy. · Support Mayor Gonzales "Permanent Open Space Protection Measure" that serves to prevent potential urban development from spreading into designated open space and hillsides. OPA, Greenbelt Alliance, Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group and Homebuilders Association of the South Bay are supporters of the Measure. · Support Governor Davis' tax credit plan for individuals that wish to donate land for public use. He has allocated $100 million in the State Budget for this purpose. Currently the Federal Government gives tax credits for this type of donation.. · Other Innovative Financing methods to maximize funding include: access easements, conservation easement, leaseback of farmland, land trades, life estates and trusts. · Encourage joint open space projects with Federal, State, and Municipal agencies to maximize our tax dollars. · Conservation partnerships with high tech firms coming to Coyote Valley should pay their fair share of the estimated cost, to preserve the hillside land to the east and west of the Coyote Valley and the greenbelt in the southern portion of the Valley.

Properties acquired by OPA must be well managed, maintain the natural character of the environment, and provide outdoor recreation and agricultural preservation that is environmentally compatible development of the land.