Wilson Creates Growth-Management Council

Gov. Pete Wilson on Friday opened his promised attack on California’s helter-skelter growth by creating a state council to develop a program that would enable Californians to “shape our future, not just suffer it.”

The new state Council on Growth Management will include heads of state departments that oversee housing, transportation and other issues key to solving problems brought on by population growth. But Wilson said local government, business, environmental groups and others will be involved, too.

As his point man on growth management, Wilson selected Pasadena attorney Richard P. Sybert, a former White House fellow and U.S. Defense Department aide who was environmental chairman of Wilson’s 1988 Senate campaign and his 1990 campaign for governor.

In addition to chairing the new council, Sybert will be director of the state Office of Planning and Research, which Wilson said during his campaign would serve as the focal point of growth management in the Wilson Administration.

Meeting with Southern California political reporters over breakfast, Wilson, with Sybert sitting in, promised that his growth-management program will be “a very ambitious undertaking.”

But as he did during the campaign against Democrat Dianne Feinstein, Wilson rejected the concept of direct state control over land-use planning like that adopted in Oregon and Vermont. Feinstein had endorsed such a plan.

“Where there is an issue of statewide concern, or one that transcends purely local interests, the state has a role,” he said in a statement. “But I want to assure local government that we are not going to make local land-use decisions from Sacramento.”

Asked how the state could solve conflicts without preempting local authority, Wilson said “in some instances it may take rules of the kind you’ve seen in the California Clean Air Act.”

Wilson’s growth council is expected to have an advisory role in proposing programs that can be adopted by executive order or enacted through legislation.

The governor emphasized the need for coordination and cooperation among regional groups like the South Coast Air Quality Management District, regional water quality management boards and the Southern California Assn. of Governments and others that deal with growth issues. But he said his program very likely will require legislation to provide a mechanism for resolving conflicts among local, state and federal government agencies.

Local governments may be offered financial incentives to encourage their participation, he said.

Wilson pointed to the state-created structure of regional air districts as an example of how government agencies can be effective in dealing with regional issues. He acknowledged, however, that there has been criticism of the districts for imposing rules that the business community considers onerous.

He also said that the activities of the various single-purpose regional bodies must be closely coordinated to avoid duplication of effort.

This will be the first time that growth management has been singled out as a priority for both the governor and the Legislature. Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) has introduced legislation that would create the type of regional government endorsed by Feinstein. Wilson opposes the legislation, but he said he looks forward to working with legislative leaders on the subject.

Although Wilson arrived at the breakfast prepared to talk about growth management, the former U.S. senator was repeatedly questioned about his views on the Persian Gulf War.

As a former member of the Armed Services Committee, Wilson was involved in the development of many of the weapons being used under combat conditions for the first time. Wilson said the Iraqi missile attack on Israel Thursday indicated the need for an anti-ballistic missile system capable of intercepting missiles launched from mobile platforms.

The governor also said some of the young Californians protesting the U.S. involvement in the war may be acting with naive idealism. “They ought to be sobered by the events of the last few days,” he said.