BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 684|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 684
Author: Block (D), et al.
Amended: 8/23/11 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/22/11
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock, Huff, Liu,
Price, Simitian, Vargas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Vacancy
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMMITTEE : 4-0, 7/5/11
AYES: Correa, De Le�n, Gaines, Lieu
NO VOTE RECORDED: La Malfa
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-1, 8/15/11
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Emmerson, Lieu, Pavley, Price,
Steinberg
NOES: Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-3, 5/19/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Community college trustee elections
SOURCE : Community College League of California
Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College
District
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the local governing board
of a community college district to change election systems
CONTINUED
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in accordance with this bill's provisions and the
California Voting Rights Act of 2001 and specifically
provides for the number of members, the election of
members, and the reapportionment of trustee areas for the
governing board of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College
District.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/23/11 add an urgency clause
and a co-author.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides for the election of
school district and community college district board
members, the determination of the number of board members,
and provides for the establishment and adjustment of
trustee areas.
Existing law also provides for the change from an at-large
election method to a by-trustee area election method if
initiated by a petition of the electorate, initiated by the
county committee on school district organization, or
initiated by the district. Each of these options requires
the approval of the voters prior to implementation.
Existing law establishes the California Voting Rights Act
of 2001(CVRA) which provides that an at-large method of
election may not be imposed or applied in a manner that
impairs the ability of a protected class to elect
candidates of its choice or its ability to influence the
outcome of an election, as a result of the dilution or the
abridgment of the rights of voters who are members of a
protected class, as defined. The CVRA also establishes
criteria in state law through which the validity of
at-large election systems can be challenged in court.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school
district or a county board of education, after a public
hearing on the matter, to request the State Board of
Education (SBE) to waive all or part of any section of the
Education Code or any Board adopted regulation that
implements a provision of the Education Code and specifies
statutes that are excepted from this waiver authority.
This bill:
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1. Authorizes the local governing board of a community
college district to change election systems in
accordance with this bill's provisions and the CVRA
upon:
A. Adoption of a resolution by the Board of Trustees.
B. Approval of the Board of Governors (BOG).
2. Authorizes a local governing board of a community
college district to:
A. Establish election by trustee areas, as specified.
B. Establish a top-two primary election system, as
specified.
C. Determine the number of trustees, as specified.
3. Prohibits the application of these provisions to any
community college district statutorily authorized to
provide for its own trustee elections.
4. Provides for the number of members, the election of
members and the reapportionment of trustee areas for the
governing board of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community
College District, in accordance with the provisions of
this bill and the CVRA.
5. States that no reimbursement is required by this bill
because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district are the result of a program
for which legislative authority was requested by that
local agency or school district.
6. Contains an urgency clause.
Comments
Parallel authority . According to the SBE, since 2009 it
has approved 20 requests from school districts requesting a
waiver of the requirement that voter approval be secured to
change their voting systems from "at-large" to "district-
based" elections. One of these waivers was granted to a
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county board of education on behalf of a local community
college district.
This bill proposes to give the BOG (arguably a more
suitable oversight body for community colleges) a similar
waiver authority. While the BOG does not currently possess
as expansive a waiver authority as the SBE, current law
does grant the BOG the authority to grant exemptions from
the 50 percent law under specified conditions. In
addition, current law grants the BOG the authority to
exercise general supervision over the formation of, and the
approval or disapproval of plans for, new community college
districts and the reorganization of existing community
college districts.
Why separate provisions for Grossmont- Cuyamaca ? According
to the author's office, in anticipation of the 2012
election cycle, Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College
District has moved ahead in establishing a trustee-area
election method. The district believes that it would be
out of compliance with the CVRA under its current at-large
method and has already adopted a board resolution
expressing their intent to move to a trustee-area election.
Inclusion of specific language for Grossmont-Cuyamaca in
this bill puts them a step ahead in the process of changing
their method, avoiding potential lawsuits and gives the
district as well as local election officials ample time to
prepare for the June 2012 election cycle.
Related court cases . Several local government entities
have been subjected to lawsuit on the basis of violation of
the CVRA. These include the following:
Sanchez v. The City of Modesto . In 2004 the Lawyers
Committee for Civil Rights filed a suit under the CVRA
against the City of Modesto on behalf of three Latino
residents. The committee claimed that racially polarized
voting was keeping Latinos out of office; the city had had
only one Latino council member since 1911 even though the
Latino population exceeded 25 percent.
The County Superior Court Judge sided with the city and
declared the law unconstitutional. The case was appealed
to the 5th District Court of Appeals who struck down the
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initial ruling. The city appealed the case to the State
Supreme Court which refused to hear the case. The City of
Modesto paid $4.7 million in court costs and in 2009
adopted district voting.
Gomez v. Hanford Joint Union School District . In July 2003
the school district of Hanford was sued by Latino voters
(backed by civil rights organizations) under the CVRA; the
suit claimed that racially polarized voting had negatively
affected the ability of Latino's to assume office. The
city chose to settle and agreed to use "by district" voting
for the board of trustees.
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights v. Madera Unified School
District . In August 2008 the Lawyers Committee for Civil
Rights filed suit against the Madera Unified School
District on behalf of three Latino residents. The
plaintiffs pointed out that while 82 percent of students in
Madera were Latino, only one out of seven board members was
Latino. The city, instead of going to trial, agreed to
draw district lines.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
CCD waiver authority Potentially significant
one-time savings Local
Grossmont/Cuyamaca Local request;
non-reimbursable costs Local
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/17/11)
Community College League of California (co-source)
Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District (co-source)
College of the Desert
Feather River College
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Foothill De Anza Community College District
Gavilan College
Los Rios Community College District
MiraCosta Community College District
Mt. San Antonio College
Palo Verde College
Rancho Santiago Community College District
Solano Community College
South Orange County Community College District
State Center Community College District
The AFT Guild, Local 1931
Yosemite Community College District
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
many community college districts that use at-large election
systems are obligated to switch election systems to trustee
area elections under the CVRA. Generally this requires an
election authorizing the change in election systems. For
K-12 schools, an appeal to the SBE can result in a waiver
of these requirements and avoid the cost of an election in
order to come into compliance with the CVRA. Community
colleges do not have a clear option for requesting a
waiver, and even in the event of an election, could be
prohibited from making the changes necessary to comply with
the CVRA if they are rejected by voters. The purpose of
this bill is to allow community college districts to avoid
costly elections and potential litigations costs by
facilitating their ability to conform to the CVRA.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-3, 5/19/11
AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Lara, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell,
Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel
P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,
Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. P�rez
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NOES: Donnelly, Mansoor, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Gorell, Jones, Knight, Ma
CPM:kc 8/24/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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