BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 235|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 235
Author: Negrete McLeod (D)
Amended: 3/14/11
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 7-0, 3/16/11
AYES: Wolk, Huff, DeSaulnier, Fuller, Hancock, Hernandez,
Liu
NO VOTE RECORDED: Kehoe, La Malfa
SUBJECT : Water conservation districts: reduction in
number of
directors
SOURCE : San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation
District
DIGEST : This bill allows water conservation districts
with seven-members boards of directors to decrease the
number of directors to five members.
ANALYSIS : The Water Conservation District Law of 1931 is
the principal act for the 11 water conservation districts
(WCDs), which have elected boards of directors with three,
fiver, or seven members.
This bill allows WCDs with seven-members boards of
directors to decrease the number of directors to five
members.
CONTINUED
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Proceedings start when a district's governing board adopts,
by majority vote of the board's membership, a resolution
which includes a map and description of the five proposed
electoral divisions. The WCD's secretary must call a
public hearing that can't be less than 30 days or more than
60 days after the board adopts its resolution. The WCD's
secretary must publish a public notice in a general
circulation newspaper once a week for three weeks. At its
public hearing, the WCD's board must consider any comments
and then either disapprove the proposal or order the
decrease in the board's size. That decision is subject to
referendum by the WCD's voters.
Decreasing the number of directors and changing their
electoral divisions doesn't affect the existing directors'
terms of office and the existing directors continue to
serve until their terms end. Decreasing the size of a
WCD's board cannot occur within 180 days of a director's
election.
This bill does not apply to the WCDs in Ventura County.
Comments
Special legislation allows the two WCDs in Ventura County
to change the size of their boards of directors and
reapportion their electoral divisions. Proceedings start
with either a board resolution or a voter petition. The
WCD's board must send the proposal to the county board of
supervisors. After giving public notice, the county
supervisors must hold a public hearing and then call an
election on the proposal. State law requires
majority-voter approval to change the size of the WCD's
board (AB 2934 �Henson], 1965).
The San Bernardino Valley WCD covers 78 square miles and
about 98,000 registered voters, including the San
Bernardino County communities of Highland, Loma Linda,
Redlands, and San Bernardino. The District has a
seven-member board of directors, elected by divisions.
Three directors' terms end in December 2011; four in
December 2013. To help reduce its costs, the District
wants to reduce the size of its board of directors from
seven to five. However, there are no statutory procedures
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for changing the size of the governing boards of the WCDs
that are not in Ventura County.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 3/16/11)
San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District (source)
AGB:do 3/16/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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