BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 951
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
951 (Wilk) - As Amended April 20, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill exempts the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District
(SCVSD) from an exception to the Ralph M. Brown Act regarding
meeting locations. This has the effect of requiring the
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meetings of the SCVSD to occur within the boundaries of the
district.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Negligible state costs. Local mandate costs are not reimbursable
because they would fall under Proposition 42.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "Santa Clarita Valley
(SCV) has been locked in a 15-year battle with the Los Angeles
Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB) to reduce the
level of chloride that can be discharged into the Santa Clara
River. The Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District Board
(SCVSD) charged with the responsibility to come up with a plan
to comply with the proposed limit, chose and sited a plan to
reduce the chloride level by drilling and storing brine
underground below the communities of Westridge and Stevenson
Ranch. It was then discovered that neither the community nor
its leaders had much information about the proposed location
and that those decisions made by SCVSD in regard to this issue
had been made, more than likely, 50 miles from SCV in Whittier
where the SCVSD Board regularly meets. Naturally, the
distance discourages public comment from the effected
residents and their ability to be informed of all the facts."
This bill would prohibit a Brown Act exception, thus requiring
the meetings of the SCVSD to occur within the boundaries of
the district, instead of at the principal office in Whittier.
2)Ralph M. Brown Act. The Brown Act requires, among other
things, that the regular and special meetings of a legislative
agency be held within the boundaries of the territory over
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which the local agency has jurisdiction. The Brown Act also
contains several exceptions to this rule including allowing a
local agency to meet in the closest meeting facility if it has
no meeting facility with the boundaries of the territory, or
at its principal office if that office is located outside the
jurisdictional territory of the local agency. This bill
prohibits this exception from applying to the SCVSD.
3)Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District. The SCVSD is a
local agency that collects wastewater from Santa Clarita
Valley's homes and businesses. It is one of 24 independent
special districts that make up the Sanitation Districts of Los
Angeles County (Sanitation Districts), a public agency created
under state law to manage wastewater and solid waste on a
regional scale.
The 24 sanitation districts work cooperatively under a Joint
Administration Agreement with one administrative staff
headquartered near the City of Whittier. Each individual
sanitation district has a Board of Directors consisting of the
mayor of each city and the Chair of the Board of Supervisors
for unincorporated territory. Each Sanitation District pays
its proportionate share of joint administrative costs.
The Sanitation Districts' boards typically meet in Whittier at
the Joint Administration Office. The meetings are grouped on
different days of the month, so some, though not all, of the
boards usually meet together. This approach is viewed as
efficient and cost effective because many of the directors
serve on multiple boards and the Chair of the Board of
Supervisors, a member of the SCVSD, sits on multiple local
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government boards that meet the same day.
It has been the SCVSD Board's practice to hold board meetings
in Whittier on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, and to hold
special board meetings and public hearings in Santa Clarita on
matters of community interest.
4)Proposition 42. Proposition 42 was passed by voters on June
3, 2014, amended the state Constitution to require all local
governments to comply with the California Public Records Act
and the Ralph M. Brown Act and with any subsequent changes to
those Acts. Proposition 42 also eliminated reimbursement to
local agencies for costs of complying with the California
Public Records Act and the Ralph M. Brown Act.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
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