BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 437
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Correa
VERSION: 4/25/11
Analysis by: Art Bauer FISCAL: no
Hearing date: May 10, 2011
SUBJECT:
Orange County Transportation Authority
DESCRIPTION:
This bill limits the terms of certain city members of the Orange
County Transportation Authority (OCTA) board of directors.
ANALYSIS:
As the regional transportation planning agency for Orange
County, OCTA plans and programs transportation investments,
manages a local voter-approved transportation sales tax,
operates public mass transit services, and manages the 91
Express Lanes.
Existing law establishes OCTA's eighteen member governing board
as follows:
Five members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors,
appointed by the board for the length of their
supervisorial term.
Five city members, with one from each of the five
supervisorial districts, that the Orange County City
Selection Committee members elect within each supervisorial
district on a population-weighted voting basis. The Orange
County City Selection Committee determines the length of
terms for these members. (The Orange County City Selection
Committee is a voluntary organization comprised of the
cities of Orange County that acts as the forum for
selecting city representation to organizations, such as
OCTA, which require representation from municipalities.)
Five city members, with one from each of the five
supervisorial districts, that the Orange County City
Selection Committee members elect without regard to
SB 437 (CORREA) Page 2
population on a "one city, one vote" within each
supervisorial district. The Orange County City Selection
Committee determines the length of terms for these members.
Two public members appointed by a majority of the
fifteen voting members of OCTA for four-year terms.
One nonvoting member, who is the director of the
California Department of Transportation's District 12 field
office, who the Governor appoints for a four-year term.
This bill restricts the "city member" appointed on the basis of
one city, one vote to two consecutive terms.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose . According to the author, this bill seeks to
ensure broader representation on the OCTA board by
increasing the opportunity for smaller cities to serve.
This bill does not affect the tenure of the representatives
of the larger cities, protects the interests of the larger
cities in the county, and does not force any city to serve
if it does not wish to have representation on the OCTA
board.
2. Background . The OCTA board is comprised of two classes
of cities, the larger cities with representatives selected
on a population basis and a second class of cities with
representatives selected on the basis of one city, one
vote. Both classes of cities are selected by the
supervisorial district.
The unusual feature of the appointment process is that the
Orange County City Selection Committee (committee)
determines the length of the terms of the city
representatives of both classes. This committee has
representatives from all the Orange County cities. Because
the selection of both classes of city representatives is by
the supervisorial district, only the cities within a
supervisorial district may select the city representative.
According to the OCTA website, the term of the city
representative is one year.
3. What this bill does . This bill endeavors to ensure the
participation of more cities on the OCTA board by limiting
SB 437 (CORREA) Page 3
the number of terms served to two for cities selected on
the basis of one city, one vote. For example, the City of
Westminster, which is in Supervisorial District 1 with only
two other cities, has not had a representative on the OCTA
board during the last six years. This bill allows
Westminster an opportunity to serve. In Supervisorial
District 5, with eleven cities, Laguna Niguel has been on
the board for five of the last six years.
4. Proposed amendment . The language in the bill refers to
a "city member" being selected to serve on the OCTA board.
This term is ambiguous, as it is unclear if it references
the municipality itself or the council member or mayor
representing the city on the board. The committee may wish
to amend the bill to read as follows: Page 2, line 23,
strike "member"
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
May 4, 2011)
SUPPORT: City of Westminster
OPPOSED: None received.