BILL NUMBER: SB 235	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Negrete McLeod

                        FEBRUARY 9, 2011

   An act to add Division 4 (commencing with Section 61500) to Title
6 of the Government Code, relating to districts.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 235, as introduced, Negrete McLeod. Water and flood districts:
reorganization of district governing board.
   Existing law provides for the formation of various special
districts to perform flood control, conservation, and water supply
functions. With respect to certain districts, existing law prescribes
the number of members on the governing board of the district and
provides for the election of those members by the voters of the
district.
   This bill would authorize the governing board of a district, as
defined, to reorganize the district to reduce the total membership of
the governing board by a resolution adopted by a majority vote of
the board. The bill would prescribe procedures for the reorganization
of the governing board of the district, including procedures for the
reapportionment of division boundaries within the district in those
districts that elect directors based on their residence within a
division of the district, and procedures for the appointment of
members of the governing board to the remaining seats on a recognized
board. The bill would require a district that reorganizes its
governing board pursuant to these provisions to notify specified
local agencies.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Division 4 (commencing with Section 61500) is added to
Title 6 of the Government Code, to read:

      DIVISION 4.  Reorganization of District Governing Board


      CHAPTER 1.  GENERAL PROVISIONS


   61500.  The following definitions shall govern the construction of
this division:
   (a) "Affected city" means any city that contains, or its sphere of
influence contains, all or any part of a district proposing to
reorganize pursuant to this division.
   (b) "Affected county" means each county that contains all or any
part of a district proposing to reorganize pursuant to this division.

   (c) "Board of directors" means the legislative body or governing
board of a district.
   (d) "By divisions" means the election of a director by only the
voters within the division of the district that the director
represents.
   (e) "Director" means a member of the legislative body or governing
board of a district.
   (f) (1) "District" means any of the following agencies, formed
pursuant to general law or special act, for which the board of
directors is elected by the voters of the district:
   (A) A flood control district.
   (B) A flood control and flood water conservation district.
   (C) A flood control and water conservation district.
   (D) A conservation district.
   (E) A water conservation district.
   (F) A water replenishment district.
   (G) A water agency.
   (H) A California water storage district.
   (I) A county water authority or a water authority.
   (J) A county water district.
   (K) A municipal water district.
   (L) A California water district.
   (2) "District" does not include any of the following:
   (A) Any district listed in paragraph (1), all or part of the board
of directors of which is composed of local public officers serving
as ex officio directors, or individuals appointed by a local public
agency or a local public officer.
   (B) A metropolitan water district.
   (g) "From divisions" means the election of a director who is a
resident of the division that he or she represents but who is elected
by the voters of the entire district.
   (h) "Principal act" means the general law or special act under
which the district is formed.
   (i) "Reorganize" and "reorganization" means the process of
reducing the total membership of the board of directors, and
includes, in the case of directors elected by division, the
reapportionment of division boundaries within the district for that
purpose.
   61502.  Notwithstanding any other law, including the principal act
of the district, a district may use the applicable procedures set
forth in this division to reorganize the district's board of
directors.
      CHAPTER 2.  REORGANIZATION OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS


   61510.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the board of directors
of a district that is not divided into divisions but instead provides
for the election of each of the directors by the voters of the
entire district, may reduce the total membership of the board of
directors to a number of members that is less than the number
established pursuant to the principal act. A reorganization pursuant
to this section shall comply with the following procedures in the
following order:
   (1) The board of directors, by a majority vote of its membership,
shall adopt a resolution reducing the number of directors to serve on
the board of directors to three, five, seven, or any greater odd
number that is less than the existing number of directors.
   (2) As soon as practicable after the effective date of the
resolution adopted pursuant to paragraph (1), the directors shall
classify themselves by lot to determine which of the existing
directors shall comprise the remaining membership of the board. The
board of directors, by resolution, shall determine the unexpired term
of office of each of the remaining directors in such a manner as to
keep as nearly equal as practicable the number of directors to be
elected at each subsequent district election, but that unexpired term
shall not be greater than the term of office prescribed pursuant to
the principal act.
   (3) The existing board of directors, by resolution, shall appoint
the remaining members to the remainder of their respective unexpired
terms, as determined pursuant to paragraph (2). The term of office of
a director who is not selected by lot to remain on the board shall
expire upon the appointment of the remaining members of the board.
   (b) The election of successors to the directors appointed pursuant
to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) shall be performed pursuant to
the principal act, except that the total membership of the board of
directors shall remain as reorganized pursuant to subdivision (a).
   (c) Upon adoption of a resolution pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a), the district shall notify the city council of every
affected city, and the board of supervisors and county elections
official of every affected county, of the resolution. Upon the
appointment of the remaining membership of the board of directors
pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), the board of directors
shall notify the city council of every affected city, and the board
of supervisors and county elections official of every affected
county, of the new membership of the board.
   61520.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the board of directors
of a district that is divided into divisions and that provides for
the election of directors either by divisions or from divisions, may
reduce the total membership of the district board of directors to a
number of members that is less than the number established pursuant
to the principal act. A reorganization pursuant to this section shall
comply with the following procedures in the following order:
   (1) The board of directors, by a majority vote of the members of
the board, shall adopt a resolution reducing the number of divisions
within the district to three, five, seven, or any greater odd number
that is less than the existing number of divisions. Notwithstanding
any other law, the resolution shall divide the district into the new
number of divisions and reapportion those divisions in the same
proportion as required pursuant the principal act or the measure
establishing the divisions, whichever is applicable.
   (2) As soon as practicable after the effective date of the
resolution adopted pursuant to paragraph (1), the existing directors
residing within each new district established pursuant to paragraph
(1) shall classify themselves by lot to determine which of the
directors residing within each new district shall comprise the
remaining membership of the board. If there is any new district in
which no incumbent director resides, any directors representing a
district that, prior to reapportionment pursuant to paragraph (1),
included any area within the new district, shall classify themselves
by lot to determine the representative of that district. The board of
directors, by resolution, shall determine the unexpired term of
office of each of the remaining directors in such a manner as to keep
as nearly equal as practicable the number of directors to be elected
at each subsequent district election, but that unexpired term shall
not be greater than the term of office prescribed pursuant to the
principal act.
   (3) The existing board of directors, by resolution, shall appoint
the remaining members of the board of directors to serve the
remainder of their respective unexpired terms of office, as
determined pursuant to paragraph (2). The term of office of a
director who is not selected by lot to remain on the board shall
expire upon the appointment of the remaining members of the board.
   (b) The election of successors to the directors appointed pursuant
to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) shall be conducted pursuant to
the principal act, except that the total membership of the board of
directors and the divisions of the district shall remain as
reorganized pursuant to subdivision (a).
   (c) Upon adoption of a resolution pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a), the district shall notify the city council of every
affected city, and the board of supervisors and county elections
official of every affected county, of the resolution. Upon the
appointment of the remaining members of the board of directors
pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), the board of directors
shall notify the city council of every affected city, and the board
of supervisors and county elections official of every affected
county, of the new membership of the board.
   61530.  Notwithstanding any other law, for a district that is
reorganized pursuant to this division, a quorum for the transaction
of the business of the reorganized district shall be equal to a
number of directors that is in as nearly the same proportion as
possible to the quorum set forth in the principal act.
   61535.  A resolution adopted pursuant to this division is subject
to referendum in accordance with the methods provided by the
Elections Code.