BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 927
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Date of Hearing: June 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Shirley Weber, 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 (PUD) within San Diego County to elect directors by
subdistricts, as specified. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes the candidates for director of any PUD, wholly or
partially within San Diego County, to be elected at-large or
by subdistricts upon adoption of a 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 the provisions 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, allowing this bill to take effect
immediately upon enactment.
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)Makes Legislative findings and declarations 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 Election Law which provides
that the principal act of a district or agency shall govern
whether directors are elected by divisions or by the district
at-large.
2)Provides definitions for the following terms 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
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violation.
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 (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. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of the Bill: According to the author:
Currently, [PUDs] are formed with an at-large model of
representation for their directors. Current law does
not provide a mechanism by which [PUDs] can modify
their representation to reflect directors that are
elected from specific districts. As such, districts
that have previously wanted to change their
composition, in response to an agency reorganization
or other voting rights concerns, have been required to
pursue district specific legislation. This proposal
would allow, not require, a [PUD] located in San Diego
County to move from at-large directors to directors
elected from specific districts, under specific
circumstances.
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2)Current Practice: 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.
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 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. Additionally, the Act
provides for the formation and governance of PUDs. Under
existing law, PUDs entirely located within one county are
governed by a board of directors elected at-large.
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3)Previous Legislation: Current law requires a PUD that is
entirely located within one county to be governed by a board
of directors that is elected at-large. As the author mentions
above, current law does not provide a mechanism whereby a PUD
can modify its representation to reflect directors that are
elected from specific districts. Consequently, if a district
desired to change its composition in response to an agency
reorganization or voting rights concerns, the district would
need to pursue district-specific legislation.
In 1980, the Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed AB
1410 (Waters), Chapter 63, Statutes of 1980, which authorized
Georgetown Divide PUD directors to be elected by wards upon
the adoption of a resolution or ordinance by the board of
directors dividing the district into wards and fixing the
boundaries. SB 1393 (Senate Local Government Committee),
Chapter 939, Statutes of 1994, authorized any PUD, wholly or
partially within Placer County, to elect governing board
members at-large, by wards, or from wards upon adoption of a
resolution or ordinance by the district board of directors and
subject to the approval of the board of supervisors or as a
part of a change of organization or reorganization pursuant to
the CKH Act.
Similarly, 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.
Specifically, this bill requires the PUD's board of directors
to adopt a resolution or ordinance and subsequently requires
the San Diego's Board of Supervisors to approve the resolution
or ordinance to change the method of election for the district
directors. Additionally, this bill requires the ordinance or
resolution to describe the boundaries of the subdistricts so
that the subdistricts are as nearly equal in population as may
be. Additionally, this bill authorizes the election of
directors by subdistricts as part of a change of organization
or reorganization conducted pursuant to the CKH Act.
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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
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 CVRA 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.
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5)California Voting Rights Act of 2001: SB 976 (Polanco),
Chapter 129, Statutes of 2002, enacted the CVRA to address
racial block voting in at-large elections for local office in
California. In areas where racial block voting occurs, an
at-large method of election can dilute the voting rights of
minority communities if the majority typically votes to
support candidates that differ from the candidates who are
preferred by minority communities. In such situations,
breaking a jurisdiction up into districts can result in
districts in which a minority community can elect the
candidate of its choice or otherwise have the ability to
influence the outcome of an election. Accordingly, the CVRA
prohibits an at-large method of election from being imposed or
applied in a political subdivision in a manner that impairs
the ability of a protected class of voters to elect the
candidate of its choice or 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 the protected class.
The first case brought under the CVRA was filed in 2004, and
the jurisdiction that was the target of that case-the City of
Modesto-challenged the constitutionality of the law.
Ultimately, the City of Modesto appealed that case all the way
to the United States Supreme Court, which rejected the city's
appeal in October 2007. The legal uncertainty surrounding the
CVRA may have limited the impacts of that law in the first
five years after its passage.
Since the case in Modesto was resolved, however, many local
jurisdictions have converted or are in the process of
converting from an at-large method of election to
district-based elections due to the CVRA.
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6)Why Piecemeal Approach? Background material provided by the
author states that the only way in which a PUD may change its
method of election is by special legislation or a court order.
This bill only applies to PUDs wholly or partially in San
Diego County. If other PUDs in California desire to change
their method of election in response to CVRA concerns, the PUD
would be required to seek special legislation or risk
litigation. The committee may wish to consider whether this
bill should be expanded to apply to other PUDs in California.
Moreover, according to proponents of the bill, Fallbrook PUD
negotiated a settlement that is enforced by a recent court
order and has begun implementing the changes required by the
settlement. Committee staff is unsure whether special
legislation is needed as Fallbrook PUD is already in the
process of converting its election method to address CVRA
concerns. On the other hand, because this bill allows any PUD
that is wholly or partially within San Diego County to utilize
this tool to convert from an at-large to a district-based
election method, it could theoretically be helpful to other
PUDs within San Diego County.
7)Arguments in Support. In support, the Mexican American Legal
Defense and Educational Fund writes:
Current law that governs the formation of public utility
districts requires that the members of a board of directors
of a public utility district that lie entirely within one
county to be elected on an at-large basis, which is how
Fallbrook was formed and governed.
Last year, Fallbrook was sued under the [CVRA] over the usage of
at-large districts. 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
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Fallbrook with specific statutory authority to move to
district-based elections.
More than 140 local government bodies have transitioned from
at-large to district-based elections since the enactment of the
CVRA in 2002. While some jurisdictions did so in response to
litigation or threats of litigation, other jurisdictions
proactively changed election methods because they believed they
could be susceptible to a legal challenge under the CVRA, and
they wished to avoid the potential expense of litigation.
8)Related Legislation: AB 2389 (Ridley-Thomas), permits a
special district to change the method of electing its
governing board members from at-large to a by-district method
of election without receiving voter approval. AB 2389 passed
out this committee on a 5-2 vote and was approved by the
Assembly on a 59-16 vote. AB 2389 is pending in Senate
Governance and Finance Committee.
9)Double-Referral: On June 15, 2016, this bill was approved by
the Assembly Local Government Committee on a 9-0 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Fallbrook Public Utility District (sponsor)
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Association of California Water Agencies
California Special Districts Association
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
San Diego County Water Authority
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094