Hijacked dredging funds in Gray area

Alex Coolman

If Gov. Gray Davis approves the state budget package in the weeks ahead,

Newport Beach is hoping its lobbying effort will rescue a $13-million

funding package that was lost to bureaucratic wrangling.

At this point, said Deputy City Manager Dave Kiff, the city’s hopes lie

in the possibility that Davis will exercise his authority to cut some

programs funded by the proposed budget, thereby freeing up money for

Newport.

The lost money, which would have funded an extensive Back Bay dredging

project to be started next year, was promised to Newport Beach under

recently passed Proposition 12.

Under the proposed budget, however, all the money available from that

source has already been spent -- without any of it allocated for

dredging.

Newport Beach sent a letter earlier this week to Davis’ office, asserting

its right to the missing money and requesting that he “limit the

appropriation” to other projects.

“We’re all kind of fighting for the same pie,” Kiff explained. “What we

hear informally is that we’re probably going to be OK. The folks who are

supposed to recommend the policies to the governor are indeed

recommending some of these line-item vetoes, but we just won’t know until

the governor actually signs the budget.”

Kiff stressed, however, that the recovery of the money is far from

certain.

“I would urge folks who are concerned to let the governor know their

concerns,” he said.

Steve Horn, deputy executive officer for the California Coastal

Conservancy, the group that would theoretically administer the funds if

they were restored, said he has heard from both Newport’s lobbyist and

the state Department of Fish and Game in connection with the fiscal

snafu.

“There is an awareness on our part as a consequence of the expression of

concern,” he said, “and I believe there’s an awareness of that potential

problem in the governor’s office.”

Horn, like Kiff, stressed that the budget was not yet set in stone.

“This is a priority for the state,” he said. “We would like to see a

sufficient amount -- whether that’s $13 million or some other number --

to enable the project to continue.”

How do you lose $13 million?

See today’s editorial, Page A19.