BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1058
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1058 (Chávez)
As Amended March 21, 2013
Majority vote
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Achadjian, Levine, Alejo, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Bradford, Gordon, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Melendez, Mullin, | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Waldron, Stone | | Donnelly, Eggman, |
| | | |Gomez, Hall, |
| | | | Ammiano, Linder, Pan, |
| | | |Quirk, |
| | | |Wagner, Weber |
| | | | |
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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
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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)
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.
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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: "East county cities" means the Cities of El Cajon,
La Mesa, Lemon Grove, and Santee; "North county coastal
cities" means the Cities of Carlsbad, Del Mar, Encinitas,
Oceanside, and Solana Beach; "North county inland cities"
means the Cities of Escondido, Poway, San Marcos, and Vista;
and, "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.
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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
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 : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, there is a negligible fiscal impact.
COMMENTS : 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.
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."
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: 1) to operate San Diego International Airport; 2) 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, 3) to serve as
the Airport Land Use Commission for the 16 civilian and military
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airports within San Diego County.
The Legislature restructured the Authority with passage of SB 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.
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:
1)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.
2)Clarifies the membership of the Board's Executive Committee.
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The Authority seeks this change to ensure that the Executive
Committee is comprised of one representative 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.
3)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.
4)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.
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 on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958
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