BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1058
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          Date of Hearing:  April 24, 2013

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
                           K.H. "Katcho" Achadjian, Chair
                    AB 1058 (Chávez) - As Amended:  March 21, 2013
           
          SUBJECT  :  San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

           SUMMARY  :  Makes a number of changes to statutes governing the  
          San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.  Specifically,  this  
          bill  :  

          1)Clarifies legislative findings and declarations by stating  
            that it is essential to the public health, safety, and welfare  
            that airports be developed and operated in the San Diego  
            County region so that those airports promote economic  
            development, protect environmental quality, and enhance social  
            equity.

          2)Clarifies that the Board of Directors (Board) for the San  
            Diego County Regional Airport Authority (Authority) shall  
            consist of nine voting members.

          3)Changes the process whereby the Authority's four regional  
            jurisdictions appoint their Authority member by eliminating  
            the requirement that the appointment be made at a meeting of  
            the city selection committee and instead requiring the  
            appointment to be made at a public meeting pursuant to a  
            majority vote of the regional jurisdiction's mayors.

          4)Requires the public meetings referenced above to be publicly  
            noticed by the Authority and 
          by each of the cities whose mayor is eligible to participate in  
            the meeting, provides that the meetings are subject to the  
            Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act), and requires the meetings to  
            be conducted by the Authority clerk who shall record the  
            minutes of the meeting.

          5)Clarifies that the Mayor of San Diego shall appoint the Board  
            chair from among the nine voting members of the Board.

          6)Deletes obsolete language regarding appointments to the  
            Authority's Board to provide for an orderly transition of  
            powers and duties from the San Diego Unified Port District  
            (Port) and the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG)  








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            to the Authority.

          7)Clarifies that a Board member may continue to serve until his  
            or her successor takes office.

          8)Changes the date on which a Board member takes office, from  
            the first Monday in February to February 1 of the year in  
            which the appointment begins, and clarifies the date on which  
            a Board member takes office if appointed after February 1.

          9)Clarifies the membership of the Board's Executive Committee.

          10)Changes the date by which the allocation of vote points for  
            the purposes of the Board's weighted votes are to be made,  
            from "every July 1" to "annually."

          11)Allows, rather than requires, the Authority to adopt a  
            comprehensive plan on the future development of San Diego's  
            regional international airport, and deletes language requiring  
            the Authority, in developing its plan, to review all options  
            of alternative sites, including, but not limited to, expansion  
            of the existing airport site and other development options  
            available to address future airport needs.

          12)Makes a number of additional updating, technical, clarifying  
            and conforming changes.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Establishes the Authority as a local entity of regional  
            government with jurisdiction throughout the County of San  
            Diego.

          2)Establishes a nine-member Board for the Authority, including  
            one member selected by each of the following four regional  
            jurisdictions: east county cities; north county coastal  
            cities; north county inland cities; and, south county cities.

          3)Defines the Authority's four regional jurisdictions as  
            follows:

             a)   "East county cities" means the Cities of El Cajon, La  
               Mesa, Lemon Grove, and Santee;

             b)   "North county coastal cities" means the Cities of  








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               Carlsbad, Del Mar, Encinitas, Oceanside, and Solana Beach;

             c)   "North county inland cities" means the Cities of  
               Escondido, Poway, San Marcos, and Vista; and,

             d)   "South county cities" means the Cities of Chula Vista,  
               Coronado, Imperial Beach, and National City.

          4)Requires the four regional jurisdictions referenced above to  
            appoint their Authority board members at a meeting of their  
            city selection committees.

          5)Creates city selection committees for any county in which two  
            or more cities are incorporated to appoint city  
            representatives to boards, commissions, and agencies as  
            required by law; requires the membership of each city  
            selection committee to consist of the mayor of each city  
            within the county; provides that a majority vote of the  
            representatives of the number of cities within a county  
            entitled to representation on the city selection committee is  
            necessary to appoint representatives to boards, commissions,  
            or agencies; and, requires a majority of city representatives  
            for a quorum.

          6)Requires the Authority to have a three-member Executive  
            Committee, and requires the members of the Executive Committee  
            to be the following: 

             a)   The chair of the Authority's Board;

             b)   A member of the Board appointed to the Executive  
               Committee by Board members appointed by the Chair of the  
               Board of Supervisors of the County of San Diego; and,

             c)   A member of the Board appointed to the Executive  
               Committee by Board members appointed by any of the city  
               selection committees.

          7)Requires the Authority Board to act only by ordinance,  
            resolution or motion, and requires the adoption of such to be  
            made by both a numerical and a weighted majority vote of the  
            total voting membership of the Board.

          8)Allocates vote points for the weighted vote, and requires the  
            allocation of vote points to be made every July 1 by the Board  








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            based on population calculations made by SANDAG.

          9)Requires the Authority to adopt a comprehensive plan on the  
            future development of San Diego's regional international  
            airport.  In developing its plan, the Authority shall review  
            all options of alternative sites, including, but not limited  
            to, expansion of the existing airport site and other  
            development options available to address future airport needs.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :   

          1)This bill makes a number of changes to the statutes governing  
            the Authority, which are primarily updating, clarifying,  
            technical and conforming in nature.  This bill is sponsored by  
            the Authority.

          2)According to the author's office, "Since the establishment of  
            the Airport Authority, the legislation that created the  
            organization, commonly known as the 'Airport Authority Act,'  
            has only been amended to resolve specific policy issues.   
            However, legislation making all of the identified technical  
            corrections and related changes has not yet been considered.   
            This bill would serve as a 'clean up' bill, making all of the  
            necessary changes to the Act that have been identified by  
            counsel and eliminating several sections of the Airport  
            Authority Act which are now outdated and obsolete."

          3)The Legislature created the Authority by approving AB 93  
            (Wayne), Chapter 946, Statutes of 2001, shifting powers from  
            the Port and SANDAG to create the new Authority for three  
            specific purposes:

             a)   To operate San Diego International Airport;

             b)   To direct a comprehensive study of potential airport  
               sites to serve the San Diego region into the future and to  
               place on the ballot a proposed site no later than November  
               2006; and,

             c)   To serve as the Airport Land Use Commission for the 16  
               civilian and military airports within San Diego County.  

            The Legislature restructured the Authority with passage of SB  








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            10 (Kehoe), Chapter 287, Statutes of 2007, to provide direct  
            accountability, save taxpayer money, improve the Authority's  
            ability to operate the airport, and enhance transportation  
            planning in the region by directly linking air and ground  
            transportation planning.

            The following year, with approval of SB 1510 (Kehoe), Chapter  
            620, Statutes of 2008, the Legislature made a number of  
            changes to the powers and duties of the Authority dealing with  
            the Board and the Authority's powers regarding civil  
            penalties; unclaimed property; Board member benefits and  
            stipends; regional, mayoral and gubernatorial appointees; the  
            Authority's executive and audit committees; rental car fees;  
            and, disaster relief.

          4)The Authority is seeking this legislation as a comprehensive  
            "clean-up" measure, because some of the original statutes are  
            now more than 10 years old and contain a number of obsolete  
            provisions.  Among its many provisions, this bill:

              a)   Eliminates the city selection process required for the  
               four regional jurisdictions to appoint their Authority  
               Board member in favor of a majority vote at a public  
               meeting.   The Authority notes that, although the use of the  
               city selection process was instituted in 2007 under SB 10,  
               the Authority is proposing a return to the previous  
               appointment method of having those cities with the ability  
               to vote for a Board appointment to convene and select a  
               Board member.  Under the city selection process, a quorum  
               of all of the region's cities is needed even though only  
               four or five cities are authorized to vote on the Authority  
               appointment.  Although this has been done during the annual  
               League of California Cities meetings, if a selection cannot  
               be made (e.g. absence of voting member(s) or a tie vote),  
               it may prove difficult to reconvene a quorum of all of the  
               region's cities to allow four or five city representatives  
               to vote.  Under the proposed change, the meetings would be  
               noticed by the Authority and the participating cities, and  
               would be subject to the Brown Act.  Authority staff would  
               oversee these meetings and record the meetings, thereby  
               reducing the burden on county staff.

              b)   Clarifies the membership of the Board's Executive  
               Committee.   The Authority seeks this change to ensure that  
               the Executive Committee is comprised of one representative  








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               from each of the following jurisdictions: the City of San  
               Diego, the County of San Diego, and one of the Authority's  
               four regional jurisdictions.

              c)   Changes the date by which the allocation of vote points  
               for the purposes of the Board's weighted votes are to be  
               made, from "every July 1" to "annually."   The Authority is  
               requesting this change because it has found that SANDAG  
               often updates its figures in August, just after the  
               Authority obtains figures in July.  As a result, the  
               figures obtained in July are sometimes misaligned with  
               updated SANDAG figures for most of the year.  The Authority  
               would like the flexibility to update its figures when  
               SANDAG updates its figures to provide for consistency.

              d)   Allows, rather than requires, the Authority to adopt a  
               comprehensive plan on the future development of San Diego's  
               regional international airport, and deletes language  
               requiring the Authority, in developing its plan, to review  
               all options of alternative sites, including, but not  
               limited to, expansion of the existing airport site and  
               other development options available to address future  
               airport needs.   The Authority is requesting this change  
               because it was tasked with the responsibility of developing  
               an alternate location for San Diego International Airport  
               (SDIA) and placing that proposal on a region-wide ballot in  
               2006.  Because this requirement was completed seven years  
               ago, the Authority is proposing to remove the word  
               "requires" and striking the ballot-related language.   
               However, because there may be a need for a future  
               comprehensive plan for SDIA, the Authority proposes leaving  
               the word "allows" in statute to clarify that the Authority  
               has the ability to take such action.   
           5)Support arguments  :  Supporters assert that this bill will  
            provide clarity in the statutes governing the Authority,  
            making necessary changes and deleting outdated provisions.

             Opposition arguments  :  None

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          San Diego Regional Airport Authority [SPONSOR]









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           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958