BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1058
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1058 (Chávez)
As Amended May 16, 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
the meeting, provides that the meetings are subject to the Ralph
M. Brown Act (Brown Act), and requires the meetings to be
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conducted by the Authority clerk who shall record the minutes of
the meeting.
5)Allows the Authority to issue guidance to cities concerning the
appointment process referenced above.
6)Clarifies that the Mayor of San Diego shall appoint the Board
chair from among the nine voting members of the Board.
7)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.
8)Clarifies that a Board member may continue to serve until his or
her successor takes office.
9)Changes the date and time at which a Board member takes office,
from noon on the first Monday in February to 12:01 a.m. on
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.
10)Clarifies the membership of the Board's Executive Committee.
11)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."
12)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.
13)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.
7)Requires the Authority Board to act only by ordinance,
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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 airports
within San Diego County.
The Legislature restructured the Authority with passage of SB 10
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(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.
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
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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
FN: 0000543