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A bill by Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel, to extend the sunset date of the Fort Ord Reuse Authority 10 years, from mid-2014 to 2024, passed out of the Assembly Committee on Local Government today.

Assembly Bill 1614 also has the support of Central Coast politicians Sen. Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, and and Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville.

Monning notes that AB 1614 faces a "rigorous process" as it heads to the Assembly floor, then (if passed) to the Senate and governor's office. “By not extending FORA’s sunset date, we risk an uncertain future for the Monterey region," he says.

The League of Women Voters and LandWatch Monterey County have indicated they will support the FORA extension bill only if it is revised to include five conditions, including removing blight before developing wild land.

For Ord Rec Users has also written a letter opposing the existing draft of AB 1614. "The Fort Ord Reuse Authority failed to realize the objectives for which it was created," the March 15 letter states. "To date, the Reuse Authority has been unsuccessful in its purpose of providing the oversight necessary for the transformation of an Army base into desirable, compatible, and beneficial civilian uses."

Another group, Keep Fort Ord Wild, has sued in an effort to force FORA to produce documents detailing how the authority has spent a nearly $100 million Army grant for cleanup of the Superfund site.