John C. Williamson; Wrote Farm Protection Bill

John C. Williamson, 85, a former state assemblyman who wrote the law credited with saving millions of acres of California farmland from development. The law that bears his name, the Williamson Act, passed in 1965, provides property tax reductions to farmers who agree not to sell their land for development for at least 10 years. It is praised to this day by both environmentalists and development interests. Williamson, a Democrat, also wrote the law that allowed creation of the Kern County Water Agency, and co-sponsored legislation that authorized establishment of Cal State Bakersfield. Williamson was elected to the Assembly in 1958 during a landslide year for California Democrats. Today, almost 16 million acres of farmland are under Williamson Act contracts, including most Kern County farms. In Graeagle, Calif., on Sunday of complications from diabetes.