Roos Unable to Pull Back Bill Extending Conservancy

Assemblyman Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles) attempted this week to retrieve a bill from Gov. George Deukmejian’s desk that would extend the life of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

The unusual maneuver was blocked, however, by a parliamentary technicality.

The bill would extend the operation of the conservancy, which buys parkland in the Santa Monicas, until 1995. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Herschel Rosenthal, a Westside Democrat, received final legislative approval last week.

Roos, who had voted for the bill, won Assembly approval Monday to withdraw it from the governor’s desk. But later in the day the Assembly’s chief clerk, Brian Kidney, said the withdrawal was void because the legislation originated in the Senate and any retrieval effort would have to begin there.

In an interview on Tuesday, Roos said the staff of the Assembly Ways and Means subcommittee on bonded indebtedness, which he chairs, had voiced concern that the conservancy was acquiring land encumbered by bonded indebtedness that the state could be obligated to repay. Roos said his staff is reviewing whether the state has become saddled with any major costs as a result of the conservancy accepting gifts of parkland.

Conservancy supporters voiced fears that the legislation may face trouble with the governor.

Joseph T. Edmiston, the conservancy’s executive director, said the agency has not acquired property with debts.