BILL ANALYSIS
AB 466
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
AB 466 (Coto) - As Amended: April 15, 2009
SUBJECT : Santa Clara Valley Water District.
SUMMARY : Makes various changes to the Santa Clara Valley Water
District's (District) enabling act. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that the individuals who serve on the board of the
District on December 31, 2008, shall continue to serve on the
board of the District (Board), except as otherwise provided.
2)Requires that until noon on January 3, 2011, the Board consist
of the following directors:
a) Two appointed directors, representing the areas formerly
covered by the Gavilan Water Conservation District and the
Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District; and,
b) Five directors, one elected from each of the
supervisorial districts.
3)Requires that all director elections shall be done in
accordance with the Uniform District Election Laws.
4)Repeals the language regarding scheduled changes to the
make-up of the Board.
5)Repeals unnecessary language regarding how a vacancy is filled
on the Board.
6)Specifies that the term of office for the two Board directors
elected in 2006,
to represent the first and fourth supervisorial districts, ends
at noon on January 3, 2011.
7)Specifies that the term of office for the three Board
directors elected in 2008, to represent the second, third, and
fifth supervisorial districts, ends at noon on January 7,
2013.
8)Provides that the two appointed directors shall serve on the
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Board until noon on January 3, 2011.
9)Requires that at noon on January 3, 2011, the number of
elected directors on the Board be increased from five to seven
members and the appointed directors be reduced from two to
zero.
10)Requires the Board, on or before June 30, 2010, to adopt a
resolution dividing the District into seven electoral
districts.
11)Requires that the most recent census data be used as a basis
for dividing up the seven electoral districts, creating
districts that are nearly equal in population as possible.
12)Authorizes the Board to consider the topography, geography,
cohesiveness, contiguity, integrity, compactness of territory,
and community of interest when establishing the boundaries of
the electoral districts.
13)Requires the election of the newly formed first, fourth,
sixth, and seventh electoral districts to take place on
November 2, 2010.
14)Requires the election of the newly formed second, third, and
fifth electoral districts to take place on November 6, 2012.
15)Provides that the term of office for each elected director
shall be for four years except as otherwise provided
16)Requires that elections be held following the Uniform
District Election Laws.
17)Requires that a candidate for the Board be a resident in the
electoral district for which he or she is running.
18)Requires that a director continue to reside within that
electoral district during his or her term of office.
19)Requires that all elected directors exercise their
independent judgment on behalf of the interest of the entire
district, in furthering the purposes of the District.
20)Provides a method for filling vacancies of the Board
identical to that used by other special districts.
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21)Clarifies that any director of the Board may be recalled.
22)Requires that the Board review the boundaries of the seven
electoral districts before November 1 of the year following
the year in which each decennial census is taken and adjust
those boundaries as necessary.
23)Prohibits a Board member from seeking or accepting
compensated employment with the District while serving as a
member of the Board and for one year immediately following the
end of the director's term of office.
24) Requires the Board, by July 1, 2010, to adopt regulations
governing the activities of persons who lobby the District.
25)Specifies that the lobbying regulations must include
provisions requiring registration of lobbyists, report
requirements governing the activities of lobbyists and
communication with Board members, and disclosure by directors
of contact with lobbyists prior to voting on matters related
to this contact.
26)Prohibits a Board member from contacting staff on behalf of a
party who is bidding or intends to bid on a district contract
or who has or intends to submit a response for a proposal or
request for qualifications.
27)Prohibits a Board member from inquiring about the identity of
bidders or proposers prior to the time that staff has made a
recommendation for selection of a contract, vendor, or
consultant.
28)Specifies that the above listed prohibitions do not preclude
a Board member from making general inquiries about the status
of a particular procurement, or from providing a member of the
public with information about the appropriate staff contact
concerning procurement of goods and services by the district.
29)Prohibits the Board from authorizing severance pay for a
Board-appointed employee of the District when the employee
voluntarily separates from District employment.
30)Specifies that "severance pay" does not include any otherwise
lawful payment required to be paid by the District under a
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preexisting employment agreement or under a separation and
release agreement resolving a claim.
31)Prohibits the board from agreeing to amend an employment
contract after the employee announces or requests a voluntary
separation, except upon a Board determination, in open
session, that an adjustment in compensation is required to
retain the employee and is in the best interest of the
District.
32)Specifies timelines on when various reports issued by the
District must be available to the public.
33)Requires that on a quarterly basis, a report of the travel
reimbursements to each Board member must be placed on an open
session board meeting for review to determine whether the
travel complies with the District's travel policy.
34)Authorizes the District to provide an exemption from special
taxes levied by the District to residential parcels who are
owned and occupied by one or more taxpayers who qualify as
totally disabled under the federal Social Security Act, if the
total household income is less than an amount that is approved
by the voters of the District.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifies that, until January 1, 2010, the Board of the
District will consist of seven members: five elected, one
elected member from each of the supervisorial districts and
two appointed directors.
2)States that the two appointed members should represent the
District at large with one appointed director from the area
that previously consisted of the Gavilan Water Conservation
District and the other appointed director from the area that
the Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District previously
covered.
3)States that as of January 1, 2010, the board of directors for
the District shall consist of the five elected members.
4)States that, as of January 1, 2010, whenever there is a
vacancy in the office of a director, the vacancy will be
filled by an appointment from the board of directors of the
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District.
5)Authorizes the District to provide an exemption from special
taxes levied by the District to residential parcels who are
owned and occupied by one or more taxpayers who are at least
65 years of age, if the total household income is less than an
amount that is approved by the voters of the District.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Currently the District's governing Board consists of five
Board members elected by supervisorial district and two
at-large Board members appointed by the County Board of
Supervisors. The two appointed Board member seats are
scheduled to end on December 31, 2009, under the provisions of
AB 2435 (Coto), Chapter 279, Statutes of 2006. The District
Board has, for the past year, discussed whether to retain a
seven-member Board and, if so, what form the Board structure
should take. This process culminated in February 2008 with a
series of well-publicized public meetings throughout Santa
Clara County with community stakeholders, residents, and other
interested parties to solicit input on potential changes to
the Board structure and the District Act. One of the biggest
pieces of information considered was the fact that the
population of Santa Clara County has nearly doubled since the
current Board structure was created in 1967; today, each
part-time elected Board member represents more than 350,000
persons. The consensus of the Board and public was to retain
a seven-member governing Board, but to change the composition
of the Board from five members elected and two appointed
members, to seven members elected from seven equally divided
districts.
2)The author believes that creating smaller districts will
provide greater opportunity for competitive elections by
making it less expensive to run for public office. The author
also feels that it will also provide for greater geographic
representation which may better reflect the geographic, social
and economic diversity that exists within Santa Clara County.
AB 466 provides for the creation of a seven-member elected Board
starting with the November 2010 general election, following a
redistricting process based on the most recent census data.
Until then, the Board will remain the same with five elected
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and two appointed members.
3)According to the author's office, various audits and studies
of the District have identified several areas for improvement
or modification of current practices in governance and
operations. The author believes that AB 466 proactively
incorporates good governance recommendations from these
studies and others to make the District more transparent and
accountable, and increase the public's ability to engage on
District issues.
4)AB 466 also expands the District's ability to provide an
exemption from special taxes.
AB 88 (Alquist), Chapter 63, Statutes of 2001, authorized the
District to provide an exemption from special taxes for
residential parcels owned by low-income seniors. This bill
would expand the ability to provide exemptions to low-income
individuals who qualify as totally disabled under the Social
Security Act.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Santa Clara Valley Water District [SPONSOR]
Association of CA Water Agencies (as amended)
CA Special Districts Association
Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce
San Jose/Silicon Valley Branch of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958