BILL NUMBER: SCA 8	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Mendoza
   (Coauthors: Senators Beall, De León, Hueso, McGuire, and Runner)


                        MAY 11, 2015

   A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California
an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Sections 1
and 4 of, and adding Section 4.5 to, Article XI, relating to
counties.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCA 8, as introduced, Mendoza. Charter counties: board of
supervisors: redistricting.
   The California Constitution requires that a county charter provide
for a governing body of 5 or more members, elected (1) by district
or, (2) at large, or (3) at large with a requirement that they reside
in a district, and to provide for the compensation, terms, and
removal of members of the governing body. The California Constitution
also provides that charter counties are subject to statutes that
relate to apportioning population of governing body districts.
Existing law requires, following each decennial federal census and
using that census as a basis, the board of supervisors of a county to
adjust the boundaries of any or all of the supervisorial districts
of the county so that the districts are as nearly equal in population
as may be and comply with applicable provisions of federal law.
   This measure would require the county charter, in a county with a
population of more than 2,000,000 at a decennial United States census
beginning with the 2020 United States census, to provide for a
governing body consisting of 7 or more members. The measure would
also require in such a county, the county charter to provide that the
expenditures for the governing body and its staff may not exceed,
for any subsequent fiscal year, the lesser of the amount budgeted for
that purpose for the 2020-21 fiscal year or the amount that has the
same proportion to total county expenditures as the expenditures for
that purpose had to the total county budget in the 2020-21 fiscal
year.
   This measure would require, on and after January 1, 2021, a county
charter to provide for members to be elected by district with a
requirement that the member reside in a district.
   As described above, the California Constitution requires that a
county charter provide for the compensation of members of the
governing body. The California Constitution also requires that, if a
county charter provides for the Legislature to prescribe the salary
of the governing body, the salary be prescribed by the governing body
by ordinance.
   This bill would repeal that latter provision on January 1, 2021.
   This measure would also make other technical, nonsubstantive
changes.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.



   WHEREAS, California's counties are governed by elected members of
a board of supervisors, and
   WHEREAS, The number of members of the board of supervisors in most
counties has remained unchanged for more than a century despite
enormous increases in the county's population which, in some cases,
are greater than the population of individual states in the union,
and
   WHEREAS, It is a well-recognized principle that residents are more
efficiently able to access their representatives for assistance for
services and to hold them better accountable when the ratio of
residents to each elected representative on a governing body is
smaller rather than larger, and
   WHEREAS, It is important to restrain the costs of governance by
restricting the fiscal impact of any increase in the number of
members of any county's board of supervisors, and
   WHEREAS, It is therefore the intent of the people, in adopting
this measure, to make all of the following changes with regard to the
county board of supervisors in each county having a population of
more than 2,000,000 at each decennial United States census:
   (a) To increase democratic representation by substantially
reducing the population in each supervisorial district;
   (b) By establishing smaller supervisorial districts, to provide
greater opportunities for public participation in local government
that provide safety, health, transportation, and other vital
services;
   (c) In order to control the size of government, reduce unnecessary
expenditures, and increase efficiency through smaller supervisorial
districts, to reduce the office budgets currently allocated for each
member of the board of supervisors; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2015-16 Regular Session
commencing on the first day of December 2014, two-thirds of the
membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of
the State of California, that the Constitution of the State be
amended as follows:
  First--  That Section 1 of Article XI thereof is amended to read:
      SEC. 1.  (a) The State is divided into counties which are legal
subdivisions of the State. The Legislature shall prescribe uniform
procedure for county formation, consolidation, and boundary change.
Formation or consolidation requires approval by a majority of
electors voting on the question in each affected county. A boundary
change requires approval by the governing body of each affected
county. No county seat shall be removed unless two-thirds of the
qualified electors of the county, voting on the proposition at a
general election, shall vote in favor of such removal. A proposition
of removal shall not be submitted in the same county more than once
in four years.
   (b) The Legislature shall provide for county powers, an elected
county sheriff, an elected district attorney, an elected assessor,
and an elected governing body in each county. Except as provided in
 paragraph (2) of  subdivision  (b)  
(a)  of Section 4 of this article, each governing body shall
prescribe by ordinance the compensation of its members, but the
ordinance prescribing such compensation shall be subject to
referendum. The Legislature or the governing body may provide for
other officers whose compensation shall be prescribed by the
governing body. The governing body shall provide for the number,
compensation, tenure, and appointment of employees.
  Second--  That Section 4 of Article XI thereof is amended to read:
      SEC. 4.   (a)    County charters shall
provide for: 
   (a) A 
    (1)     Except as otherwise provided in
Section 4.5, a  governing body of 5 or more members, elected
 (1)  by district  or, (2) at large, or (3)
at large  , with a requirement that  they 
 the member  reside in a district. Charter counties are
subject to statutes that relate to apportioning population of
governing body districts. 
   (b) 
    (2)  The compensation, terms, and removal of members of
the governing body  . If a county charter provides for the
Legislature to prescribe the salary of the governing body, such
compensation shall be prescribed by the governing body by ordinance
  , subject to Section 4.5  . 
   (c) 
   (3)  An elected sheriff, an elected district attorney, an
elected assessor, other officers, their election or appointment,
compensation, terms and removal. 
   (d) 
    (4)  The performance of functions required by statute.

   (e) 
    (5)  The powers and duties of governing bodies and all
other county officers, and for consolidation and segregation of
county officers, and for the manner of filling all vacancies
occurring  therein   in those offices  .

   (f) 
    (6)  The fixing and regulation by governing bodies, by
ordinance, of the appointment and number of assistants, deputies,
clerks, attachés, and other persons to be employed, and for the
prescribing and regulating by such bodies of the powers, duties,
qualifications, and compensation of such persons, the times at which,
and terms for which they shall be appointed, and the manner of their
appointment and removal. 
   (g) 
    (7)  Whenever any county has framed and adopted a
charter, and the  same shall have   charter has
 been approved by the Legislature as  herein 
provided  in this section  , the general laws adopted by the
Legislature  in pursuance of Section 1(b)  
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1  of this article,
shall, as to  such   that  county, be
superseded by  said   that  charter as to
matters for which, under this section it is competent to make
provision in  such   the  charter, and for
which provision is made  therein   in the
charter  , except as  herein  otherwise
expressly provided  in this section  . 
   (h) 
    (8)  Charter counties shall have all the powers that are
provided by this Constitution or by statute for counties. 
   (b) The changes made by the act adding this subdivision shall
apply on and after January 1, 2021. 
  Third--  That Section 4.5 is added to Article XI thereof, to read:
      SEC. 4.5.  In a county with a population of more than 2,000,000
at a decennial United States census, beginning with the 2020 United
States census, the county charter shall provide as follows:
   (a) The governing body shall consist of 7 or more members.
   (b) The expenditures for the governing body and its staff may not
exceed, for any subsequent fiscal year, the lesser of the amount
budgeted for that purpose for the 2020-21 fiscal year or the amount
that has the same proportion to total county expenditures as the
expenditures for that purpose had to the total county budget in the
2020-21 fiscal year.