BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
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|Bill No: |SB 927 |Hearing |3/30/16 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Author: |Anderson |Tax Levy: |No |
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|Version: |2/1/16 |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant|Weinberger |
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Public Utility District Act: election of directors
Allows the Fallbrook Public Utility District's board members to
be elected by subdistricts or from subdistricts, rather than
at-large.
Background
Members of most local governments' legislative bodies are
elected using one of three methods:
An "at-large" election allows a voter residing anywhere
within the local government's boundaries to vote for any
candidate for the local government's governing board.
A "by district" election allows a voter to vote only for
a candidate who runs and resides in the same geographical
district in which the voter resides.
A "from district" election allows a voter residing
anywhere within a local government's boundaries to vote for
any candidate for a local government's governing board, but
each candidate must run in the geographical district where
he or she resides.
The Public Utility District Act governs California's 53 public
utility districts (PUDs). The Act empowers a PUD to acquire,
construct, own, operate, control, or use works for supplying its
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inhabitants with light, water, power, heat, transportation,
telephone service, or other means of communication, or means for
disposing of garbage, sewage, or refuse. The Act requires that
the members of the board of directors of a PUD that lies
entirely within one county must be elected at-large. The
Legislature has created two exceptions to this at-large election
requirement:
The Georgetown Divide PUD (El Dorado County) can provide
for electing the district's directors by wards (AB 1410, N.
Waters, 1980). Its board is currently elected at-large.
The board of directors of a PUD located in Placer County
can provide for electing the district's directors by wards
or from wards (SB 1393, Senate Local Government Committee,
1993). The North Tahoe PUD's board is currently elected
by-district.
The Fallbrook PUD (FPUD) provides retail water, sewer, and
recycled water services to approximately 35,000 people residing
within its boundaries in northern San Diego County. A lawsuit
filed against the district last year in San Diego County
Superior Court alleged that the district's at-large board
elections violated the California Voting Rights Act by diluting
the voting strength of Latino voters, thereby impairing their
ability to participate meaningfully in the political process and
to elect candidates of their choice (Juan Atilano, Carmen
Cardoso, Jesus Hernandez, Jesus Hernandez Jr., and Jose Huerta
v. Fallbrook Public Utility District). To avoid potentially
lengthy and costly litigation, the parties to the lawsuit
negotiated a settlement to resolve the claims against FPUD. The
settlement agreement, which is enforced by a recent court order,
requires FPUD to change from an at-large method of election to a
by-district method of election. FPUD has already begun
implementing the changes required by the settlement.
In light of the by-district election requirement in the recent
court order enforcing the settlement agreement, FPUD officials
want the Legislature to grant the district an exemption from the
Public Utility District Act's at-large election requirement.
Proposed Law
Senate Bill 927, notwithstanding any other part of the Public
Utility District Act, allows the candidates for director of any
PUD that is wholly or partially within San Diego County to be
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elected by subdistricts or from subdistricts either:
Upon adoption of a resolution or ordinance to that
effect by the board of directors of the district, subject
to approval of the board of supervisors, or
As a part of a change of organization or a
reorganization conducted pursuant to specified provisions
of state law.
SB 927 directs that a resolution or ordinance that divides a
district into subdistricts adopted by the district's board of
directors must describe the boundaries of the subdistricts so
that the subdistricts shall be nearly equal in population.
SB 927 defines "by subdistricts" as the election of members of
the board of directors by voters of the subdistrict alone.
SB 927 defines "from subdistricts" as the election of members of
the board of directors who are residents of the subdistrict from
which they are elected by the voters of the entire district.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . Despite the fact that a recent court
order enforcing a settlement agreement requires FPUD to use a
by-district method for electing members of its governing board,
state law still appears to require the district to elect its
board members at-large. To avoid any possible confusion about
FPUD's authority to use the by-district election method, SB 927
enacts an exemption to the statutory at-large election
requirement that is similar to exemptions state law grants to
two other public utility districts.
2. Inconsistency . SB 927 grants FPUD the statutory authority to
elect its board by subdistricts, which is exactly how the recent
court order requires FPUD to conduct its board elections.
However, SB 927's provisions also would allow the district to
elect board members from subdistricts. Electing FPUD board
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members from subdistricts is not consistent with the court
order, which says that FPUD's board members "are required to be
residents of their respective electoral districts and to be
elected by the resident of their respective electoral
districts." To conform SB 927 more closely to the requirements
of the court order governing FPUD's elections, the Committee may
wish to consider amending the bill to delete references to
electing board member "from subdistricts."
3. Special legislation . The California Constitution prohibits
special legislation when a general law can apply (Article IV,
§16). SB 927 contains findings and declarations explaining the
need for legislation that applies only to public utility
districts in San Diego County.
4. Urgency . Regular statutes take effect on January 1 following
their enactment; bills passed in 2016 take effect on January 1,
2017. The California Constitution allows bills with urgency
clauses to take effect immediately if they're needed for the
public peace, health, and safety. SB 927 contains an urgency
clause declaring that it is necessary for its provisions to go
into effect immediately to ensure that election procedures for
public utility districts in the County of San Diego conform to
the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 as soon as possible.
5. Double-referral . The Senate Rules Committee has ordered a
double-referral of SB 927 -- first to the Senate Governance &
Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over bills relating to
the governance of special districts, and then to the Senate
Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee, which has
jurisdiction over bills relating to local government elections.
Support and
Opposition (3/24/16)
Support : Association of California Water Agencies; California
Special Districts Association; Fallbrook Public Utility
District.
Opposition : Unknown.
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