BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 927
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Date of Hearing: June 15, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair
SB
927 (Anderson) - As Amended March 31, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 38-0
SUBJECT: Public Utility District Act: election of directors.
SUMMARY: Authorizes the board of directors of a public utility
district within San Diego County to elect directors by
subdistricts. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes the directors of any public utility district (PUD),
wholly or partially within San Diego County, to be elected
at-large or by subdistricts by resolution or ordinance adopted
by the district's board of directors and approved by the board
of supervisors, or as part of a change of organization or
reorganization conducted, pursuant to the
Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of
2000 (CKH Act).
2)Requires a resolution or ordinance that divides a district
into subdistricts adopted, pursuant to 1), above, to describe
the boundaries of the subdistricts so that the subdistricts
are as nearly equal in population as may be.
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3)Defines "by subdistricts" to mean the election of members of
the board of directors by voters of the subdistrict alone.
4)Contains an urgency clause.
5)Provides the facts constituting the necessity of an urgency
clause are to ensure that the election procedures for PUDs in
San Diego County conform to the California Voting Rights Act
of 2001 (CVRA), as soon as possible.
6)Finds and declares that a special law is necessary because of
the need to bring PUDs in San Diego County into compliance
with the CVRA.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the Uniform District Elections Law which provides
that the principal act shall govern whether directors are
elected by divisions or by the district at-large.
2)Provides definitions for the following term which govern the
election process for most local governments' legislative
bodies:
a) An "at-large" election allows a voter residing anywhere
within the local government's boundaries to vote for any
candidate for the governing board;
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b) 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; and,
c) 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.
3)Prohibits, pursuant to the CVRA, an at-large method of
election from being imposed or applied in a political
subdivision (including a special district) in a manner that
impairs the ability of a protected class of voters to elect
the candidate of its choice or its ability to influence the
outcome of an election, as a result of the dilution or the
abridgement of the rights of voters who are members of a
protected class.
4)Provides that a violation of the CVRA may be established if it
is shown that racially polarized voting occurs in elections
for members of the governing body of the political subdivision
or in elections incorporating other electoral choices by the
voters of the political subdivision.
5)Requires a court, upon finding a violation of the CVRA, to
implement appropriate remedies, including the imposition of
district-based elections, which are tailored to remedy the
violation.
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6)Permits any voter who is a member of a protected class and who
resides in a political subdivision where a violation of the
CVRA is alleged to file an action in the superior court of the
county in which the political subdivision is located.
7)Establishes the Public Utility District Act which requires a
PUD that lies entirely in one county to have a governing board
composed of three directors elected at-large.
FISCAL EFFECT: None
COMMENTS:
1)Background. Under existing law, a special district can be
organized so that its governing board members are elected
at-large or elected using districts. Jurisdictions that are
organized using district-based methods are usually organized
as "by-district" or "from-district." A "by-district"
jurisdiction allows only the registered voters in a district
to vote in the election to choose the governing board member
from that area. A "from-district" jurisdiction permits
registered voters in the entire jurisdiction to vote for
governing board members from each of the districts. In either
case, a candidate for the governing board must reside in the
district in which he or she is running.
There is no uniform process for a special district to convert
from at-large elections to a district-based method of
election. Current law provides that the principal act of a
special district shall govern whether the governing board
members are elected by districts or by the district at-large.
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Moreover, depending on the kind of district and its size,
existing law may specify which method of election it is
required to use to elect its governing board members, as well
as the process for conversion.
The principal act for PUDs, the Public Utility District Act,
governs the 54 PUDs in California. The Act authorizes PUDs to
maintain the infrastructure to provide electricity, natural
gas, water power, heat transportation, telephone service, or
the disposition of garbage, sewage, or refuse matter. The Act
also provides for the formation and governance of PUDs.
Under existing law, PUDs entirely located within one county
are governed by a three-director board elected at-large.
AB 1410 (Waters), Chapter 63, Statutes of 1980, authorized
Georgetown Divide PUD directors to be elected by wards upon
the adoption of a resolution or ordinance by the Board of
Director's dividing the district into wards and fixing the
boundaries.
AB 1393 (Senate Local Government Committee), Chapter 939,
Statutes of 1994, authorized any PUD, wholly or partially,
within Placer County to be elected at-large, by wards, or from
wards upon adoption of a resolution or ordinance by the
District's board of directors and subject to the approval of
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the Board of supervisors or as a part of a change of
organization or reorganization conduced pursuant to the CKH
Act.
2)Bill Summary. This bill authorizes a PUD, partially or
wholly, within San Diego County to adopt a resolution or
ordinance to elect directors by subdistricts, instead of
at-large. Under this bill, the district's board would adopt a
resolution or ordinance and the San Diego Board of Supervisors
would approve the ordinance or resolution to change the method
of election for district directors. The ordinance or
resolution must describe the boundaries of the subdistricts so
that the subdistricts are as nearly equal in population as may
be. This bill also authorizes the election of directors by
subdistricts as part of a change of organization or
reorganization conducted pursuant to the CKH Act. Fallbrook
PUD is currently the only PUD in San Diego County. This bill
is sponsored by the Fallbrook PUD.
3)Author's Statement. According to the author, "Under current
law, [PUDs] are formed with at-large districts. Under this
format all those within the boundaries of the [PUD] vote for
all of the directors of the district, as opposed to voting for
directors that represent a specific portion of the district.
[PUDs] may wish to modify the formation of their board to
represent specific portions of the district. This may be done
for a number of reasons, including: in response to a
consolidation or annexation, [to] allow for broader geographic
representation on the board, or in response to concerns over
voting rights. Under current law, in order for a district to
move from at-large to district-based representation, specific
legislation is needed.
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"Over the years, several [PUDs] have pursued special
legislation to modify their board structure; those districts
include: Tahoe City PUD, Johnsville PUD, and Georgetown PUD.
While the above-mentioned [PUDs] have been permitted to modify
their board structure, the other [PUDs] in California do not
enjoy that authority. As a result, should a [PUD] wish to
modify its board structure in order to address any concerns
with compliance with the [CVRA], a district either needs
specific legislation or would need to be taken to court so a
judge can order the district to elect its directors by
geographic area.
"Additionally, current law limits the ability of a [PUD] to
establish geographic districts in response to a consolidation
or annexation that is approved through a local LAFCO process.
This can result in uncertainties for geographic representation
for the entirety of the expanded district. This proposed
legislation, which would be permissive, would allow a [PUD],
partially or wholly located in San Diego County, to pass an
ordinance or resolution, which would be subject to approval by
a county board of supervisors, to elect directors from a
geographic area. Additionally, this proposal would allow a
[PUD], partially or wholly located in San Diego County, to
move to district based elections as part of a local LAFCO
process."
4)Fallbrook PUD. The Fallbrook PUD was formed in 1922 to
provide water services for residential and agricultural
purposes. Since that time, Fallbrook PUD has significantly
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expanded and currently has a service boundary of 43.99 square
miles and provides retail water, sewer, and recycled water
services to approximately 35,000 people residing within its
boundaries in northern San Diego County. Fallbrook PUD is
governed by a five-member board elected at-large.
A lawsuit was filed against Fallbrook PUD last year in San
Diego County Superior Court alleging 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 Fallbrook PUD. The settlement
agreement, which is enforced by a recent court order, requires
Fallbrook PUD to change from an at-large method of election to
a by-district method of election where directors are elected
from five distinct election districts. The settlement
provides that candidates reside within the district and are
elected only by voters residing within that election district
in the November 2016 election. Since the settlement was
reached, Fallbrook PUD has held public meetings to provide
boundaries for the subdistricts and submitted the lines to San
Diego County.
5)Urgency Clause. This bill contains an urgency clause and
requires a two-thirds vote of each house.
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6)Related Legislation. AB 2389 (Ridley-Thomas), pending in the
Senate, authorizes special districts to change the method of
electing governing board members from at-large to a
by-district method of election without receiving voter
approval.
7)Arguments in Support. According to the Mexican American Legal
Defense of Education Fund, "Fallbrook has worked cooperatively
with all parties and has settled the lawsuit and is in the
process of complying with a court order to move from at-large
to district-based governance structure. SB 927 will provide
Fallbrook with specific statutory authority to move to
district-based elections."
8)Arguments in Opposition. None on file.
9)Double-Referral. This bill is double-referred to the
Elections and Redistricting Committee.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Fallbrook Public Utility District [SPONSOR]
Association of California Water Agencies
California Special Districts Association
Mexican American Legal Defense of Education Fund
San Diego County Water Authority
Opposition
None on file
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Analysis Prepared by:Misa Lennox / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958