BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Patricia Wiggins, Chair
BILL NO: AB 466 HEARING: 6/17/09
AUTHOR: Coto FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 6/8/09 CONSULTANT: Detwiler
SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT'S GOVERNANCE
Background
The Santa Clara Valley Water District is a special act
special district which provides flood control and water
services. The District's mission changed from serving an
agricultural base into an urban water agency. Public
officials periodically review the District's governing
statute and ask for legislative changes
Proposed Law
I. Board of directors . A seven-member board of directors
governs the District, reflecting a compromise that combined
the former Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District,
the former Santa Clara County Flood Control and Water
Conservation District, and two other water districts. The
former Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District had
an elected five-member board. The Santa Clara County Board
of Supervisors was the ex officio board of the former Santa
Clara County Flood Control and Water Conservation District.
The two other water districts had their own elected
boards. The District's current seven-member board has five
elected members; one from each supervisorial district. The
county supervisors appoint the two other directors who must
be voters within the two former water districts. When the
District wanted to reduce its board to five elected
members, the Legislature eliminated the appointed members
of the District's board of directors effective on January
1, 2010 (AB 2435, Coto, 2006).
Assembly Bill 466 repeals the statutes which will reduce
the size of the Santa Clara Valley Water District's
existing seven-member board of directors to five elected
directors on January 1, 2010. [See 1 and 3 of the bill.]
AB 466 enacts a new governance scheme:
Until December 3, 2010, the board consists of:
o The two appointed directors who served on
AB 466 -- 6/8/09 -- Page 2
the board on December 31, 2008. [2, 4 & 8]
o The five elected directors. [4] The two
directors who were elected in 2006 serve until
December 3, 2010. [6] The three directors who
were elected in 2008 serve until December 7,
2012. [7]
Starting December 3, 2010, the board of directors
consists of seven elected directors. [9]
AB 466 requires the board of directors to adopt by June 30,
2010, a resolution that creates the seven electoral
districts. [10] Voters elect directors by these electoral
divisions to four-year terms for four designated seats in
November 2010 and the three other seats in November 2012.
The District's elections and the directors' terms must
follow the Uniform District Elections Law. [11] The board
must reapportion the electoral districts by November 1 of
the year following each decennial census. [14] The bill
renumbers the current provisions for filling board
vacancies and recalling directors. [5, 12, 13 & 14]
II. Compensation . The District's directors receives $100
for each day's service, but not more than $600 a month,
plus actual and necessary expenses. State law requires
local governments to adopt reimbursement policies and
disclose payments (AB 1234, Salinas, 2005). Assembly Bill
466 requires the District to place quarterly expense
reimbursement reports on the board's agenda and to
determine if the reimbursements comply with the board's
policies. AB 466 prohibits a member of the District's
board of directors from seeking or accepting compensated
employment with the District while a director, and for one
year after the director's term of office. [15]
III. Governance . Assembly Bill 466 requires the
District's board by July 1, 2010, to adopt lobbying
regulations that include registration, reporting, and
disclosure requirements. AB 466 prohibits directors from
contacting the District's staff on behalf of contract
bidders. The bill prohibits the District's board from
authorizing severance pay when an appointed employee leaves
voluntarily. AB 466 requires the District board's minutes
to include a public report of actions taken in closed
sessions under the Brown Act. [15]
AB 466 -- 6/8/09 -- Page 3
IV. Reports . The Ralph M. Brown Act requires local
governments to post their agendas, including brief general
descriptions of each item, at least 72 hours before their
regular meetings. The Brown Act provides that writings
which are distributed to a majority of the legislative body
are public records and must be made available upon request
without delay. With five specific exceptions, Assembly
Bill 466 requires that reports prepared by the District's
staff that recommend action by the board at a regular
public meeting or public hearing must be available to the
public at least six days before the meeting or hearing. AB
466 declares that this requirement does not require public
release of documents that the California Public Records Act
exempts from disclosure. If a staff report's
recommendation changes because of direction from a
director, the report must disclose that revision. [15]
V. Special taxes . When the District levies special taxes
that are subject to 2/3-voter approval, it may charge
minimum uniform rates based on land use category and size.
When levying these special taxes, the District can exempt
residential parcels that are owned and occupied by
taxpayers who are 65 years or older (AB 88, Alquist, 2001).
Assembly Bill 466 also allows the District to exempt
residential parcels that are owned and occupied by
taxpayers who qualify as totally disabled under the federal
Social Security Act. [16]
VI. District budgets . By June 15, the District's board
must meet to consider its proposed budget and hear public
comments. At the same meeting, Assembly Bill 466 requires
the board to review its financial reserves and its reserve
management policy. [17]
Comment
Step-by-step . More than 40 years after the Santa Clara
Valley Water District took over the County's flood control
duties, local officials continue to discuss how the
District should operate. Since the 2006 Coto bill, local
officials have continued to debate the District's
governance. AB 466 is the result of the latest round of
discussions about how to improve the District's
accountability, transparency, and responsiveness.
AB 466 -- 6/8/09 -- Page 4
Assembly Actions
Assembly Local Government Committee: 7-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee:16-0
Assembly Floor: 73-0
Support and Opposition (6/11/09)
Support : Santa Clara Valley Water District, Association of
California Water Agencies, California Special Districts
Association, Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, San
Jose/Silicon Valley Branch of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People.
Opposition : Unknown.