BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
------------------------------------------------------------------
|Bill No: |AB 1362 |Hearing |6/29/16 |
| | |Date: | |
|----------+---------------------------------+-----------+---------|
|Author: |Gordon |Tax Levy: |No |
|----------+---------------------------------+-----------+---------|
|Version: |6/22/16 |Fiscal: |Yes |
------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant|Weinberger |
|: | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District: board
of trustees: appointment of members
Establishes an alternative process under which the size of the
San Mateo County Mosquito & Vector Control District's governing
board may be reduced to seven appointed members.
Background
The Mosquito Abatement and Vector Control District Law (SB 1588,
Senate Local Government Committee, 2002) grants California's 65
mosquito and vector control districts broad statutory authority
to conduct programs for the surveillance, prevention, abatement,
and control of mosquitoes and other vectors. Each mosquito and
vector control district is governed by a board of trustees that
must have at least five members. In a district that is located
entirely within a single county and contains both incorporated
territory and unincorporated territory, the county board of
supervisors and the city council of each city within the
district may each appoint one member to the district's board of
trustees.
In a county with more than one city, state law requires that
there be a city selection committee to appoint city
representatives to boards, commissions, and agencies pursuant to
statutory guidelines. The membership of a city selection
committee consists of the mayor of each city within the county.
AB 1362 (Gordon) 6/22/16 Page 2
of ?
Because the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control
District serves the entire county, which contains 20 cities, it
is governed by a 21-member board of trustees. In recent years,
San Mateo County officials and other stakeholders have raised
concerns about problems with the District's management and
oversight. In 2011, two employees in the District's finance
department faced criminal charges for embezzling hundreds of
thousands of dollars of district funds. A subsequent civil
grand jury report criticized the District's manager and board of
trustees for a lack of oversight. In 2012, the San Mateo County
Local Agency Formation Commission considered, but did not
approve, a proposal to change the District's sphere of influence
to allow for the District's dissolution and consolidation with
the County.
Some local officials in San Mateo County believe that the San
Mateo County Mosquito & Vector Control District's large
governing board has contributed to governance problems and
inadequate oversight of the district's activities. They want
the Legislature to give city and county officials in San Mateo
the option of using an alternative process to appoint a
seven-member board of trustees to govern the San Mateo County
Mosquito and Vector Control District.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 1362, notwithstanding existing law governing the
appointment of members to a mosquito and vector control
district's board, allows the members of the board of trustees of
the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District to be
appointed as follows:
The board of supervisors may appoint two trustees.
The city selection committee in the County of San Mateo,
established pursuant to state law, may appoint one trustee
from each county supervisorial district.
AB 1362 directs that the alternative appointment process
established by the bill only applies if a majority of city
councils and the board of supervisors in San Mateo County adopt
AB 1362 (Gordon) 6/22/16 Page 3
of ?
respective resolutions approving the change in the mosquito and
vector control district board's composition.
The bill requires that, upon adopting a resolution approving the
change in board composition, the city or county must forward a
copy to the Local Agency Formation Commission and requires the
commission to notify the mosquito and vector control district
and the city selection committee once a majority of resolutions
is collected.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . Reducing the size of the San Mateo
Mosquito and Vector Control District's governing board would
produce many governance and oversight benefits. A smaller board
would increase collaboration between neighboring cities by
authorizing the city selection committee to make shared
decisions on local governance. This process adds an additional
level of oversight and accountability to the appointment
process, while retaining city councils' authority to appoint
members. Other benefits include reducing the costs associated
with meeting expenses and stipends for each member's service,
streamlining board communication, reducing duplicative work, and
providing more transparency on the board's representation and
decision-making. The District's board has often had multiple
simultaneous vacancies because some jurisdictions find it
challenging to keep their seats on the board filled by
appointees. The District's recent history of governance issues
also suggests that a larger board does not necessarily mean
greater oversight or accountability. AB 1362 does not interfere
with local autonomy by mandating any changes to the District's
board. Instead, the bill establishes a governance alternative
that may be adopted only if elected officials from San Mateo
County and a majority of cities within the county agree.
2. Let's be fair . Under the alternative board of trustees
appointment process established by AB 1362, the San Mateo County
city selection committee must appoint one board member to
AB 1362 (Gordon) 6/22/16 Page 4
of ?
represent each of the county's five supervisorial districts.
Because the boundaries of the cities of South San Francisco,
Belmont, San Bruno, and Menlo Park fall within more than one
county supervisor's district, it is possible that AB 1362 could
allow those cities to be represented by more than one trustee on
the board. To prevent appointees from disproportionately
representing a small group of cities, the Committee may wish to
consider amending AB 1362 to clarify that the city selection
committee's appointments must not result in two or more
appointees representing a single city serving on the board at
the same time.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Local Government Committee: 9-0
Assembly Floor: 56-15
Support and
Opposition (6/23/16)
Support : San Mateo County Supervisor Don Horsley; San Mateo
County Mosquito and Vector Control District Trustee Joe
Galligan.
Opposition : Unknown.
-- END --