Executive Director's Column Spring 2003

Joint Powers Authority . . . What’s That?

By Dick Bobertz, Executive Director
San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority

In the case of the San Dieguito River Park, it is an idea that is working. A Joint Powers Authority is simply an agreement between government entities to cooperate for mutual advantage. There are state regulations that allow that to happen and describe how it must be done. California Government Code Section 6500 empowers public agencies, “ … to exercise their common powers jointly by agreement, including the powers to acquire and hold property, to undertake overall planning for and to plan and design public facilities and appurtenances.”

The member agencies of the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority are the County of San Diego and the cities of Del Mar, Escondido, Poway, San Diego and Solana Beach. They adopted their Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement in 1989. The goals they adopted in that agreement are:

a. Preserve land within the focused planning area of the San Dieguito River Valley as a regional open space greenbelt and park system that protects the natural waterways and the natural and cultural resources and sensitive lands, and provides compatible recreational opportunities that do not damage sensitive lands.

b. Provide a continuous and coordinated system of preserved lands with a connecting corridor of walking, equestrian, and bicycle trails, encompassing the San Dieguito river Valley from the ocean to the river’s source.

The premise of the arrangement is that each agency would provide a modest amount of funding to support a small staff. That staff would concentrate on finding the millions of dollars that would be necessary to buy land and construct facilities, manage property acquisition and construction and operate the River Park as it becomes a reality.

How can we measure how it is working? One way is to compare the amount of money the Joint Powers Authority member agencies have cumulatively provided with the amount of money that has been obtained through successful grant applications or, in other words, the return on investment. As the chart below illustrates, an investment of $4,024,258 by the member agencies over 14 years has produced $43,388,603 to accomplish the goals of the Joint Powers Authority.
That is more than a 1000% return on investment that translates to a great deal of progress for the San Dieguito River Park.

The most recent grant received was $5,573,709 from the State of California Wildlife Conservation Board that was awarded on February 11, 2003 for acquisition of natural habitat property. River Park staff will continue to pursue all funding opportunities to maintain the momentum and confirm the wisdom of sharing the Authority of Joint Powers for mutual benefit.

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