SECTIONS 52871-52890 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 52871-52890

52871. There is in the state government the San Joaquin Valley
Cotton Board. The board shall be composed of seven cotton growers,
three cotton industry members operating in the San Joaquin Valley,
and one public member.
(a) The grower members shall be elected by the cotton growers in
the county they represent, as follows:
(1) There shall be five elected growers representing each of the
five counties within the district with the largest cotton acreage.
(2) There shall be an additional elected grower from each of the
two counties within the district with the largest cotton acreage.
(b) The three cotton industry members shall be elected as follows:
(1) One member elected from and by handlers of whole cottonseed.
(2) One member elected from and by handlers of raw cotton fiber.
(3) One member elected from and by cotton ginning organizations.
(4) An organization may not be represented in more than one of the
categories specified in the foregoing paragraphs.
(c) One public member shall be appointed by the secretary. The
board shall submit a list of three public members to the secretary.
The secretary shall choose one public member from the list to serve
as a member on the board. If the secretary determines that those on
the list are unacceptable, the board shall submit a new list
containing the names of three public members from which the secretary
shall choose one. This procedure shall continue until a public
member has been selected by the secretary to serve on the board.
(d) In addition, the board shall select one representative each
from the United States Department of Agriculture and the University
of California, and two representatives each from cotton planting seed
delinting organizations, and organizations involved in the
reproduction, sale, and distribution of cottonseed in the district,
to serve as nonvoting ex officio members of the board. These members
shall not be selected from the same organization.

52872. The secretary shall establish a list of growers and other
persons and organizations subject to this chapter. Each person or
organization on the list shall have one vote in any election
conducted pursuant to Sections 52871 and 52873 in which that person
or organization is authorized to vote.

52873. The secretary shall supervise and conduct any election held
pursuant to Section 52871 and this section. Elections for grower
members and elections for industry members shall be conducted as
follows:
(a) The secretary shall distribute nomination petitions to each
person or organization listed pursuant to Section 52872, and
authorized to vote under Section 52871 in the election being held.
The petition of signatures in support of a nominee signed by those
whom the nominee represents shall be submitted to the secretary in
order to nominate any candidate for election to the board within 30
days from the date of the secretary's distribution of those
petitions. There shall be at least 10 signatures on each petition of
nomination for a cotton grower candidate, at least two signatures on
each petition of nomination for handlers of whole cottonseed
candidates, at least six signatures on each petition of nomination
for handlers of raw cotton fiber candidates, and at least 10
signatures on each petition of nomination for cotton ginning
candidates.
(b) The submitted petitions for nomination shall be verified by
the secretary, and an election ballot containing the names of persons
nominated shall thereafter be mailed to the persons and
organizations eligible to vote in the election.

52874. Each member of the board, except the ex officio members,
shall have an alternate member, who shall be a candidate for election
in the same manner as the member. The candidate receiving the
greatest number of votes in the election for the vacant position
shall be the member. The candidate with the next highest number of
votes in the election for the vacant position shall be the alternate.
In the event of a tie vote in electing members or alternates, the
secretary, by lot, shall determine the member and alternate.

52875. An alternate member, in the absence of the member for whom
he or she is alternate, shall sit in place of the member on the
board, and shall have, and be able to exercise, all the rights,
privileges, and powers of the member when sitting on the board. In
the event of death, removal, resignation, or the disqualification of
a member, the alternate shall act as a member on the board for the
remainder of the term.
If an alternate member is unable to continue serving in that
position because he or she has replaced a member on the board or is
unable to continue serving for any other reason, a new alternate
shall be selected, by majority vote of the board. However, that
person shall fulfill all the qualifications set forth in this article
as required for the alternate member whose office he or she is to
fill. Qualification of any person to fill vacancies on the board
shall be certified, in writing, by the secretary.

52876. Grower members and their alternates on the board shall have
a financial interest in producing, or causing to be produced, cotton
for market.
Cotton industry members or their alternates shall have a financial
interest in, or be employed by, any person or organization handling
cotton for markets.
The public member or his or her alternate on the board shall have
all the powers, rights, and privileges of any other member on the
board, but shall not have any direct financial interest in the cotton
industry.

52878. The term of office for each member, alternate, and ex
officio member of the board is four years.

52879. Upon implementation of Article 9.5 (commencing with Section
52951), the board shall have the power to sue and be sued, and to
enter into contracts. Copies of its proceedings, records, and acts,
when certified by the secretary of the board, shall be admissible in
evidence in all courts of the state, and shall be prima facie
evidence of the truth of all statements therein.

52880. The board may appoint its own officers, including a
chairman, one or more vice chairmen, and such other officers as it
deems necessary. The officers shall have the powers and duties as may
be delegated to them by the board.

52881. The board may appoint committees composed of both members
and nonmembers of the board to advise the board in carrying out this
chapter. The board may retain outside counsel, with the approval of
the Attorney General, when a possibility of conflict exists between
the board and the department.

52882. The board shall meet at least once a year, or at the call of
the chairperson or the secretary, or at the request of any six
voting members of the board.

52883. A quorum of the board shall be any six voting members or
their alternates. The vote of a majority of members present at a
meeting at which there is a quorum shall constitute the act of the
board.

52884. The secretary or the secretary's representatives shall be
notified and may attend each meeting of the board.

52885. No board member, alternate, member of a committee who is a
nonmember of the board, or ex officio member shall receive a salary,
but may, if approved by the board, be allowed per diem in accordance
with Department of Personnel Administration rules for each day spent
in actual attendance on, or in traveling to and from, meetings of the
board or committees of the board, or on special assignment for the
board.

52886. Upon board action, all moneys received by any person from
the assessments levied under the authority of Article 9.5 (commencing
with Section 52951) of this chapter shall be deposited in banks
designated by the board and shall be disbursed by order of the board
through the agent or agents it designates for that purpose. Any
designated agent shall be bonded by a fidelity bond, executed by a
surety company authorized to transact business in California, in
favor of the board, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the
agent's duties and the strict accounting of all funds of the board,
in the amount determined by the board.

52887. The state shall not be liable for the acts of the board or
its contracts. Payment of all claims arising by reason of the
administration of this chapter or acts of the board shall be limited
to the funds collected under this chapter. No member of the board or
alternate member, or any employee or agent thereof, shall be
personally liable on the contracts of the board nor shall a board
member, alternate member, or employee of the board be responsible
individually or jointly in any way to any cotton grower or handler or
any other person for error in judgment, mistakes, or other acts,
either of the board or omission, as principal, agent, or employee,
except for his or her own individual acts of dishonesty or crime. No
board member or alternate member shall be held responsible
individually for any act or omission of any member of the board. The
liability of the board members shall be several and not joint, and no
board members shall be liable for the default of any other board
member.

52889. The secretary may require the board to correct or cease any
activity or function that is determined by the secretary not to be in
the public interest or that is in violation of this chapter. If the
board refuses or fails to cease those activities or functions or to
make such corrections as required by the secretary, the secretary
may, upon written notice, suspend all or a portion of the activities
of the board until the time that the cessation or correction of
activities or functions as required by the secretary have been
accomplished.
Written notice to cease any activity that is the subject of a
contract entered into by the board prior to the notice, shall not be
effective until after the period of notice for termination provided
in the contract or 120 days, whichever is shorter. Upon service of
the written notice, the secretary shall give written notification to
the board of the specific acts that the secretary determines are not
in the public interest or are in violation of this chapter.

52890. Either the secretary or the board may bring an action for
judicial relief in a court of competent jurisdiction, which may
thereafter issue a temporary restraining order, a permanent
injunction, or other applicable relief.