BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 347|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 347
          Author:   Chang (R)
          Amended:  3/26/15 in Assembly
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE:  7-0, 7/8/15
           AYES:  Hertzberg, Nguyen, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Moorlach,  
            Pavley

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  78-0, 5/14/15 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Local agencies:  city selection committees:  County  
                     of Los Angeles


          SOURCE:    Author


          DIGEST:  This bill requires specified city council members to  
          serve as the voting member of the Los Angeles County City  
          Selection Committee (Committee) when a mayor is unable to attend  
          a meeting. 


          ANALYSIS:   


          Existing law:


          1)Establishes, in any county in which two or more cities are  
            incorporated, a city selection committee for the purpose of  
            appointing city representatives to boards, commissions, and  








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                                                                    Page  2


            agencies as required by law. 


          2)Provides that the membership of each city selection committee  
            consists of the mayor of each city within the county.


          3)Provides that, when the mayor is unable to attend a meeting of  
            the city selection committee, he or she shall designate  
            another member of the city's legislative body to attend and  
            vote at the meeting in the mayor's place.


          This bill:


          1)Provides that, for the Committee, the following shall apply  
            when the mayor is unable to attend a meeting of the Committee:

             a)   The vice mayor or mayor pro tempore shall serve as the  
               voting member and shall be entitled to one vote; and,

             b)   In the absence of the mayor and the vice mayor or mayor  
               pro tempore, the next ranking council member shall serve as  
               the voting member and shall be entitled to one vote.  The  
               ranking council member shall be determined by seniority of  
               service on the council.

          2)Finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a  
            general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of  
            Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution  
            because of the challenges faced as a result of the current  
            governance structure of Los Angeles County.


          Background


          The Committee is composed of the mayors of each of the 88 cities  
          within Los Angeles County; 45 or more mayors must be present at  
          the Committee's meetings to reach a quorum.  Because mayors  
          often get caught in traffic or cannot attend meetings for other  
          reasons, the Committee has historically had trouble reaching a  
          quorum.  Even when an unavailable mayor designates an alternate  







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          to attend and vote at a Committee meeting in his or her place,  
          the designated alternate is sometimes unable to attend.  This  
          situation has made it difficult for the Committee to function.

          The Brown Act specifically allows local legislative bodies to  
          use teleconferencing instead of meeting in person, but the size  
          of Los Angeles County and the number of mayors (or alternates)  
          needed to reach a quorum makes it impractical for the Committee  
          to hold teleconference meetings instead of meeting in person. 

          Some Los Angeles County cities now propose changing state law to  
          create a clear, statutorily defined line of succession in the  
          event of a mayor's inability to attend the meetings of the  
          Committee.


          Comments


          1)Purpose of the bill.  The Committee has been unable to  
            consistently reach quorums to fill elections to regional  
            boards and commissions.  In some cases, this results in key  
            appointments remaining vacant or unable to open for elections.  
             Mayors and city council members in Los Angeles County face  
            unique challenges including traffic, distance, notification,  
            and time of meetings contributes to the quorum challenges.  AB  
            347 offers some flexibility to meet that challenge.

          2)Getting by.  Existing law already requires an unavailable  
            mayor to designate another member of the city's legislative  
            body to attend and vote at a city selection committee meeting  
            in the mayor's place.  If the Committee schedules its meetings  
            with advanced notice, and mayors have permanently designated  
            alternates, it is unclear why the Committee would still have  
            difficulty meeting its quorum requirements.

            Similarly, state law gives city selection committees the  
            authority to formulate their own rules governing the time,  
            place, and manner of their meetings.  It is unclear that a  
            change in state law is needed to allow the Committee to meet a  
            quorum, when existing law permits the city selection committee  
            to choose meeting locations, times, and formats most  
            convenient for its members. 








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          3)Special legislation. The California Constitution prohibits  
            special legislation when a general law can apply (Article IV,  
            §16).  AB 347 contains findings and declarations explaining  
            the need for legislation that applies only to the Committee.

          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:NoLocal:    No


          SUPPORT:   (Verified7/10/15)


          California Contract Cities Association
          City of Avalon
          City of Bellflower
          City of Burbank
          City of Cerritos
          City of Claremont
          City of Diamond Bar
          City of Downey
          City of Lakewood
          City of La Mirada
          City of Lomita
          City of Malibu
          City of Norwalk
          City of Rosemead
          City of Santa Fe Springs
          City of Signal Hill
          City of South Pasadena
          City of Torrance
          City of Walnut
          City of Whittier
          Los Angeles County Division of the League of California Cities
          South Bay Cities Council of Governments


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified7/10/15)


          None received

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  78-0, 5/14/15
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,  







                                                                     AB 347  
                                                                    Page  5


            Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,  
            Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina  
            Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,  
            Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,  
            Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Lopez, Low,  
            Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Melendez, Mullin,  
            Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,  
            Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,  
            Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,  
            Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Linder, Medina

          Prepared by:Toren Lewis / Gov. & Fin / (916) 651-4119
          7/16/15 9:08:03


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