Amended in Senate March 30, 2016

Amended in Senate September 4, 2015

Amended in Senate July 9, 2015

Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 8

Introduced by Senator Mendoza

(Coauthors: Senators Beall, De León, Hueso, McGuire, and Runner)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo, Gonzalez, and Lopez)

May 11, 2015

Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 8—A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Sections 1 and 4 of, and adding Section 4.5 to, Article XI thereof, relating to counties.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCA 8, as amended, Mendoza. Counties: board of supervisors: redistricting.

The California Constitution requires that a county charter provide for a governing body of 5 or more members, elected (1) by district or, (2) at large, or (3) at large with a requirement that they reside in a district, and to provide for the compensation, terms, and removal of members of the governing body. The California Constitution also provides that charter counties are subject to statutes that relate to apportioning population of governing body districts. Existing law requires, following each decennial federal census and using that census as a basis, the board of supervisors of a county to adjust the boundaries of any or all of the supervisorial districts of the county so that the districts are as nearly equal in population as may be and comply with applicable provisions of federal law.

Existing law also requires a general law county to have a board of supervisors consisting of 5 members, and requires, except as provided, each member of the board of supervisors to be elected by the district which the member represents.

This measure would, in a charter county that is found at a decennial United States census, beginning with the 2020 United States census, to have a population of more than begin delete 2,000,000, end delete begin insert 3,000,000, end insert require, and deem the county charter to provide for, a governing body consisting of 7 or more members, not to be thereafter reduced to fewer than 7 members even if, in a future decennial United States census, the county is not a county with a population of more than begin delete 2,000,000 end delete begin insert 3,000,000 end insert . The measure would similarly provide that, in such a county, the expenditures for the governing body and its staff may not exceed, for any subsequent fiscal year after the release of the census finding that the county has a population of more than begin delete 2,000,000, end delete begin insert 3,000,000 end insert the amount that was allocated for the expenses of the governing body and its staff in the county’s adopted budget for the fiscal year in which that same census was conducted, as adjusted each fiscal year thereafter for changes in the California Consumer Price Index. This measure would also extend these same requirements to the governing body of a general law county that is found at a decennial United States census, beginning with the 2020 United States census, to have a population of more than begin delete 2,000,000 end delete begin insert 3,000,000 end insert .

This measure would require, on and after January 1, 2021, a county charter to provide for members to be elected by district with a requirement that the member reside in a district, and would impose that requirement on all general law counties.

As described above, the California Constitution requires that a county charter provide for the compensation of members of the governing body. The California Constitution also requires that, if a county charter provides for the Legislature to prescribe the salary of the governing body, the salary be prescribed by the governing body by ordinance.

This bill would repeal that latter provision on January 1, 2021.

This measure would also make other technical, nonsubstantive changes.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

WHEREAS, California’s counties are governed by elected
members of a board of supervisors; and

WHEREAS, The number of members of the board of supervisors
in most counties has remained unchanged for more than a century
despite enormous increases in the county’s population which, in
some cases, are greater than the population of individual states in
the union; and

WHEREAS, It is a well-recognized principle that residents are
more efficiently able to access their representatives for assistance
for services and to hold them better accountable when the ratio of
residents to each elected representative on a governing body is
smaller rather than larger; and

WHEREAS, It is important to restrain the costs of governance
by restricting the fiscal impact of any increase in the number of
members of any county’s board of supervisors; and

WHEREAS, It is therefore the intent of the people, in adopting
this measure, to make all of the following changes with regard to
the county board of supervisors in each county having a population
of more than begin delete 2,000,000 end delete begin insert 3,000,000 end insert at each decennial United States
census:

(a) To increase democratic representation by substantially
reducing the population in each supervisorial district;

(b) By establishing smaller supervisorial districts, to provide
greater opportunities for public participation in local government
that provide safety, health, transportation, and other vital services;

(c) In order to control the size of government, reduce
unnecessary expenditures, and increase efficiency through smaller
supervisorial districts, to reduce the office budgets currently
allocated for each member of the board of supervisors; now,
therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2015-16 Regular
Session commencing on the first day of December 2014, two-thirds
of the membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to
the people of the State of California, that the Constitution of the
State be amended as follows:

First--  

That Section 1 of Article XI thereof is amended to read:

SEC. 1.  

(a) The State is divided into counties which are legal
subdivisions of the State. The Legislature shall prescribe uniform
procedure for county formation, consolidation, and boundary
change. Formation or consolidation requires approval by a majority
of electors voting on the question in each affected county. A
boundary change requires approval by the governing body of each
affected county. No county seat shall be removed unless two-thirds
of the qualified electors of the county, voting on the proposition
at a general election, shall vote in favor of such removal. A
proposition of removal shall not be submitted in the same county
more than once in four years.

(b) The Legislature shall provide for county powers, an elected
county sheriff, an elected district attorney, an elected assessor, and
an elected governing body in each county. Except as provided in
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 4 of this article, each
governing body shall prescribe by ordinance the compensation of
its members, but the ordinance prescribing such compensation
shall be subject to referendum. The Legislature or the governing
body may provide for other officers whose compensation shall be
prescribed by the governing body. The governing body shall
provide for the number, compensation, tenure, and appointment
of employees.

Second--  

That Section 4 of Article XI thereof is amended to
read:

SEC. 4.  

(a) County charters shall provide for:

(1) Except as otherwise provided in Section 4.5, a governing
body of five or more members, elected by district, with a
requirement that the member reside in a district. Charter counties
are subject to statutes that relate to apportioning population of
governing body districts.

(2) The compensation, terms, and removal of members of the
governing body, subject to Section 4.5.

(3) An elected sheriff, an elected district attorney, an elected
assessor, other officers, their election or appointment,
compensation, terms and removal.

(4) The performance of functions required by statute.

(5) The powers and duties of governing bodies and all other
county officers, and for consolidation and segregation of county
officers, and for the manner of filling all vacancies occurring in
those offices.

(6) The fixing and regulation by governing bodies, by ordinance,
of the appointment and number of assistants, deputies, clerks,
attachés, and other persons to be employed, and for the prescribing
and regulating by such bodies of the powers, duties, qualifications,
and compensation of such persons, the times at which, and terms
for which they shall be appointed, and the manner of their
appointment and removal.

(7) Whenever any county has framed and adopted a charter, and
the charter has been approved by the Legislature as provided in
this section, the general laws adopted by the Legislature pursuant
to subdivision (b) of Section 1 of this article, shall, as to that
county, be superseded by that charter as to matters for which, under
this section it is competent to make provision in the charter, and
for which provision is made in the charter, except as otherwise
expressly provided in this section.

(8) Charter counties shall have all the powers that are provided
by this Constitution or by statute for counties.

(b) The changes made by the act adding this subdivision shall
apply on and after January 1, 2021.

Third--  

That Section 4.5 is added to Article XI thereof, to
read:

SEC. 4.5.  

(a) In a charter county that is found at a decennial
United States census, beginning with the 2020 United States
census, to have a population of more than begin delete 2,000,000, end delete begin insert 3,000,000 end insert
there is required, and the county charter shall be deemed to require,
the following:

(1) The governing body shall consist of seven or more members,
elected by district, with a requirement that the member reside in
a district, and subject to statutes that relate to apportioning the
population of governing body districts. The number of members
on the governing body shall not thereafter be reduced to fewer
than seven members even if, in a future decennial United States
census, the county is not a county with a population of more than
begin delete 2,000,000 end delete begin insert 3,000,000 end insert .

(2) (A) The expenditures for the governing body and its staff
shall not exceed, for any subsequent fiscal year after the release
of the census finding a population of more than begin delete 2,000,000, end delete
begin insert 3,000,000, end insert the amount that was allocated for the expenses of the
governing body and its staff in the county’s adopted budget for
the fiscal year in which that same census was conducted, as
adjusted each fiscal year thereafter for changes in the California
Consumer Price Index.

(B) This expenditure limitation shall continue to apply even if,
in a future decennial United States census, the county is not a
county with a population of more than begin delete 2,000,000 end delete begin insert 3,000,000 end insert .

(b) (1) Each general law county that is found at a decennial
United States census, beginning with the 2020 United States
census, to have a population of more than begin delete 2,000,000 end delete begin insert 3,000,000, end insert
shall have a governing body consisting of seven or more members.
Any county described in this subdivision shall be subject to statutes
that relate to apportioning the population of governing body
districts. The number of members on the governing body shall not
thereafter be reduced to fewer than seven members even if, in a
future decennial United States census, the county is not a county
with a population of more than begin delete 2,000,000 end delete begin insert 3,000,000 end insert .

(2) (A) In a general law county that is found at a decennial
United States census, beginning with the 2020 United States
census, to have a population of more than begin delete 2,000,000, end delete begin insert 3,000,000, end insert
the expenditures for the governing body and its staff shall not
exceed, for any subsequent fiscal year after the release of the census
finding a population of more than begin delete 2,000,000, end delete begin insert 3,000,000, end insert the amount
that was allocated for the expenses of the governing body and its
staff in the county’s adopted budget for the fiscal year in which
that same census was conducted, as adjusted each fiscal year
thereafter for changes in the California Consumer Price Index.

(B) This expenditure limitation shall continue to apply even if,
in a future decennial United States census, the county is not a
county with a population of more than begin delete 2,000,000 end delete begin insert 3,000,000 end insert .

(3) On and after January 1, 2021, the members of a governing
body of a general law county shall be elected by district, and the
member shall reside in that district.