BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 706|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 706
Author: Torres (D), et al.
Amended: 9/1/11 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM. : 8-0, 8/30/11
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley,
Rubio, Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not Relevant
SUBJECT : Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension
SOURCE : Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction
Authority
DIGEST : This bill exempts the Metro Gold Line Foothill
Construction Authority board members from the incompatible
office statute.
ANALYSIS : Legislation in 1998 created the Pasadena Metro
Blue Line Construction Authority (Construction Authority)
to oversee the planning, design, and construction of a
light rail line, referred to as the Gold Line (previously
the Blue Line), between downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena.
At that time, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (METRO) was encountering
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substantial financial difficulties with the construction of
its first subway segment, the Red Line, and was in the
early stages of planning and engineering for the Blue Line.
The purpose of the Construction Authority was to isolate
METRO's Red Line project from the Blue Line project and
ensure that the Red Line will not be delayed as METRO
addressed its own financial problems.
The Construction Authority is currently constructing an
eleven-mile extension of the Gold Line east from Pasadena
to Azusa that will open for service in 2015. The
Construction Authority will eventually extend the Gold Line
from Azusa to Montclair via Claremont.
Existing law :
1. Creates the Pasadena METRO Blue Line Construction
Authority governed by a six member board of whom five
are voting members and one is non-voting member
appointed as follows:
A. Three members, one each appointed by the city
councils of the cities of Los Angeles, Pasadena,
and South Pasadena.
B. One member appointed by the San Gabriel Valley
Council of Governments.
C. One member appointed by the Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
D. One non-voting member appointed by the Governor.
2. Authorizes the Construction Authority to do all things
necessary to plan and construct a rail transit system to
Claremont, including acquiring property through purchase
or eminent domain and entering into joint agreements
with local agencies and private firms for projects
"adjacent to, or physically or functionally related to,
the project."
3. Requires the Construction Authority to adopt a code of
conduct for board members and employees that governs the
receipt of gifts, disclosure of political contributions,
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and the conditions for board members to recuse
themselves from participating in policy decision-making.
4. Prohibits a public officer, including, but not limited
to, an appointed or elected member of a governmental
board, commission, committee, or other body, from
simultaneously holding two public offices that are
incompatible.
5. Specifies that offices are incompatible when any of the
following circumstances are present:
A. Either of the offices may audit, overrule,
remove members of, dismiss employees of, or
exercise supervisory powers over the other office
or body.
B. Based on the powers and jurisdiction of the
offices, there is a possibility of a significant
clash of duties or loyalties between the offices.
C. Public policy considerations make it improper
for one person to hold both offices.
6. States that if compelled or expressly authorized by law,
a public officer may simultaneously hold two public
offices that are incompatible.
7. Specifies that when two public offices are incompatible,
a public officer will be deemed to have forfeited the
first office upon acceding to the second.
8. Exempts incompatible office doctrine from applying to a
position of employment, including a civil service
position.
This bill:
1. Changes the name of the Pasadena Metro Blue Line
Construction Authority to Metro Gold Line Foothill
Extension Construction Authority.
2. Authorizes the cities of South Pasadena and Pasadena to
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each appoint one nonvoting member.
3. Requires each appointing authority to appoint an
alternative member to serve in the absence of the
primary appointee.
4. Names the cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte,
Irwindale, Azuza, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona,
and Claremont as "extension cities."
5. Provides Construction Authority board members and
alternative members are not considered financially
interested, pursuant to existing law, by virtue of their
holding office with the Construction Authority and
simultaneously holding office with an appointing member
of the Construction Authority, or holding a similar
position with an extension city. Provides any member
who holds such a position is permitted to participate in
decisions and agreements regarding the development of
the Gold Line Extension without such participation
constituting a financial conflict of interest, and are
exempt from existing law governing incompatible
employment activity.
6. Provides the provisions of this bill are declaratory of
existing law as they pertain to conflicts of interest,
incompatible offices, or incompatible activities, and
the ability of board members, alternate members,
officers, and employees to participate in decisions and
agreements regarding the Pasadena Metro Blue Line
Construction Authority, any of the appointing entities,
and any of the cities adjoining the project
right-of-way.
Comments
A private party is unhappy with the Construction Authority
over its acquisition of property. The aggrieved party has
filed a quo warrant request with the Attorney General,
seeking authorization from her to sue an office holder to
determine if that individual is simultaneously holding two
offices that are incompatible and should be removed from
office. Statute requires a request to the Attorney General
to sue on these grounds to prevent frivolous suits from
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being filed. Should the private party obtain permission to
sue, the action is brought in the name of the 'People of
the State of California'. It is not a private action.
Moreover, the Attorney General remains in control of the
action and may dismiss it over the objection of the private
party.
The Attorney General in an opinion issued last year on the
subject of incompatible offices wrote:
Unless "expressly authorized by law," public
offices are incompatible where there is a
possibility of significant clash of duties or
loyalties between the offices," or when "public
policy considerations make it improper for one
person to hold both offices." In the event that
one person holds two incompatible offices, the
person is deemed to have forfeited the first office
upon acceding to the second.
The Attorney General also wrote in this opinion that
holding two offices does not necessarily constitute an
incompatibility.
The incompatible office statute is a common law rule that
SB 274 (Romero), Statutes of 2005, codified.
Why is this bill needed ? The Construction Authority is an
interagency public authority comprised of thirteen cities
located in the corridor. The cities are Los Angeles, South
Pasadena, Pasadena, Arcata, Monorvia, Durate, Irwinndale,
Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, and
Claremont. The governing board is made up of
representatives from the cities that are essentially
responsible for ensuring the overall integrity of the
project and that it is developed with the best interest of
the communities in mind. Metro Gold Line Foothill
Extension Construction Authority, the sponsor believe that
these activities are not incompatible with the offices held
simultaneously by the board members and do not constitute a
conflict of interest for the board members of the local
corridor agencies.
To this end, this bill exempts city elected officials and
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the governing board members of the Construction Authority
from the incompatible office provisions.
A related concern is the statutory provisions governing
conflicts of interest associated with contracts between the
Construction Authority and member agencies approved by
elected officials who may sit on the Authority and a city
council as well as the involvement of city management in
decisions related to the extension of the Gold Line. The
Construction Authority is concerned that board members
voting on contracts that may benefit the cities they
represent may be a conflict of interest. Existing law
prohibits local elected officials from having a financial
interest in any contracts they may vote on. Similarly,
existing law establishes conditions limiting the activities
of public employees related the outside activities of
employee that may be incompatible, inconsistent, or in
conflict with their duties as local agency employees. This
bill exempts members of the governing board from provisions
of law that precludes voting on contracts that they have a
financial interest in when voting on contracts of the
Construction Authority within the corridor.
According to the bill's sponsor, there are several
agreements, memoranda of understanding, and other similar
documents regarding the construction of the rail in each
city that are negotiated between the staff of the
Construction Authority and the management of the cities and
then approved by the Construction Authority governing board
and the city councils. The sponsor of this bill wants to
ensure that these activities will not be misconstrued as
being inconsistent with existing law.
It is important to recognize that through joint exercise of
powers agreements, memoranda of understanding, and other
collaborative processes, California local governments
interact with each other to pursue shared goals on a
variety of programs and projects. In regard to light rail
transit, it should also be noted that the agency that
planned and built California's first light rail transit
project, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Board, had a
governing board whose membership was made up of mayors or
council members from cities though which the service
operates. This was never viewed as a conflict or
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inappropriate. The fact that the Construction Authority
believes its must seek an exemption to the codes that
govern conflicts is the exception rather than the rule in
California.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/1/1)
Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority
(source)
Cities of Arcadia, Azuza, Duarte, Glendora, Irwindale, La
Verne,
Los Angeles, Monrovia, Montclair, Ontario, Pasadena, San
Dimas,
South Pasadena
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
JJA:do 9/1/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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