Mike Gotch, who carried an important Local Agency Formation Commission bill as a member of the state Assembly, has signed on with the California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions as executive officer. Gotch's hiring is viewed as an attempt by CALAFCO to regain lost clout. The organization has dwindled in membership in recent years. In addition, disgruntled participants in the LAFCO process - including developers and special districts - are increasingly "going around" their local LAFCOs to the Legislature in hopes of obtaing a better deal in Sacramento. Gotch, a former LAFCO staff member in San Diego, was the author of the important bill AB 1335, which gave LAFCOs the power to initiate special district consolidations but also permitted the addition of special district representatives on many LAFCO boards