Legislation Would Give $1.5 Million to Fix Huntington Pier

SACRAMENTO —  Gov. George Deukmejian and legislative leaders have agreed to a “Christmas tree” bill loaded with $48.2 million for 115 pet projects, including restoration of $1.5 million for repair of the storm-damaged Huntington Beach pier, a project originally axed from the state budget.

The agreement also provides $755,000 for park improvements in Garden Grove and Santa Ana, as well as funds for a Los Angeles-area Latino history museum and parkland acquisition in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The entire package--amended into legislation on the Senate floor late Wednesday and expected to be approved by the Assembly tonight--is the product of two months of negotiations between Democratic and Republican leaders and Deukmejian’s staff.

Kevin Brett, the governor’s press secretary, confirmed “there is a basic agreement between the governor’s office and the legislative leadership” to set aside funds for projects, many of which Deukmejian vetoed in July from the state budget.

In his budget veto message, Brett said, the governor indicated that he objected to the fact that many of the projects “were inserted into the budget at the last minute and hadn’t been reviewed by the state Department of Parks and Recreation.”

Brett said that the review is now taking place and cautioned that some of the projects could still be deleted from the bill.

In recent years, it has become a tradition of sorts for similar legislation--known around the Capitol as a “Christmas tree” bill--to be cobbled together in the final weeks of the session. Such bills allow the state’s 120 lawmakers to cite specific projects that they won for their constituents.

The $48.2 million was split four ways among the Democratic and Republican caucuses of each house, according to legislative staffers close to the negotiations. The funds are from a variety of sources, including the new Proposition 99 cigarette tax revenue, highway funds, the Proposition 70 park bond of 1988 and park bonds from earlier years.

Orange County politicians tapped into the pot and came away with $1.5 million for the restoration of the Huntington Beach Pier. Earlier this year, they had been successful in tucking the project into the state’s budget, but it was vetoed by Deukmejian.

“We’re ecstatic at the news,” Huntington Beach Mayor Wes Bannister said of the money approved for the pier, which was severely damaged by storms in January, 1988, and closed as unsafe the following July 12.

While the city needs $10 million to $15 million for the pier restoration, Bannister said, “this is a good step in the right direction.”

Two weeks ago, Huntington Beach sent a team of five people to lobby elected officials in Sacramento. Bannister said this was the second Sacramento visit to ensure that the restoration funds for the pier would not be cut.

And mindful of the governor’s previous veto, Bannister said the city will continue monitoring the pier funds. “There is a lot more to this process. We will continue working hard to keep the funds coming,” he said.

Also in the package is money for two central Orange County parks. The bill allows for $255,000 to build a new rustic multipurpose building and playground area at Pioneer Park in Garden Grove.

Another $500,000 has been designated to build a major soccer field in Santa Ana.

In addition to the Orange County projects, one potentially controversial provision addresses the dispute over how to preserve the rare spotted owl and other wildlife without putting loggers out of business. The proposal provides about $400,000 to a task force to study the impact of cutting timber on the habitat of wildlife, including the spotted owl. Supporters anticipate that the funds would be repaid, partly by timber companies that would use the data to develop plans for logging operations.

Other big winners in the package are three new museums. The proposal earmarks $300,000 in seed money for a proposed Latino History Museum, which would serve as a showcase for the history, culture and contributions of Latinos in California.

The package also sets aside $200,000 for a Northern California Afro-American Museum and $1 million for an agriculture museum at Cal State Fresno. Another $1.1 million would be for preliminary plans for the California Citrus State Historic Park in the Riverside area.

The biggest share of the money in the legislation is for public works projects, including grants to cities for parks.