SECTIONS 67051-67062 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 67051-67062

67051. There is in the state government the California Avocado
Commission. The commission shall be composed of 10 avocado producers
who are not handlers, two elected from each district, four avocado
handlers elected on a statewide basis, and one public member. The
public member shall be appointed to the commission by the secretary
from nominees recommended by the commission.
The secretary shall be a nonvoting ex officio member of the
commission.

67051.1. Notwithstanding Section 67051, any handler that handles 30
percent or more of the volume of avocados in the preceding marketing
season, as annually determined by the secretary, may appoint one
handler member to the commission. All other handlers shall nominate
and elect the remaining handler members pursuant to this chapter. Any
handler appointed to the commission pursuant to this section shall
maintain his or her eligibility under this section during the entire
term of office. Any vacancy caused by the ineligibility of the
handler shall be filled in accordance with Section 67053.

67051.5. The secretary may require the commission to correct or
cease any activity or function which is determined by the secretary
not to be in the public interest or is in violation of this chapter.
If the commission refuses or fails to cease the activities or
functions or to make corrections as required by the secretary, the
secretary may, upon written notice, suspend all or a portion of the
activities of the commission until the time that the cessation or
correction of activities or functions as required by the secretary
have been accomplished.
Any written notice, to cease any activity which is the subject of
a contract of the commission entered into by the commission 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 notify the
commission in writing, of the specific acts which he or she
determines are not in the public interest or are in violation of this
chapter.

67051.6. Either the commission or the secretary may bring an action
for judicial relief in a court of competent jurisdiction, which may
issue a temporary restraining order, permanent injunction, or other
applicable relief.

67052. Each member on the commission, except the ex officio member,
shall have an alternate member, to be elected in the same manner as
the member. An alternate member shall, in the absence of the member
for whom he or she is an alternate, sit in place of the member on the
commission and shall have, and be able to exercise, all the rights,
privileges, and powers of the member when sitting on the commission.

67053. Any vacancy of a member position on the commission occurring
for any reason including the failure of any member to continue in
his or her position due to a change in status making him or her
ineligible to serve, or through death, removal, or resignation, shall
be filled, for the unexpired portion of the term, by the alternate
member for that position. Any vacancy of an alternate member position
on the commission occurring for any reason, including the alternate'
s move to the member position as described in Section 67052, or the
failure of any alternate member to continue in his or her position
due to a change in status making him or her ineligible to serve, or
through death, removal, or resignation, shall be filled for the
unexpired portion of the term by a majority vote of the commission.
Any person filling a vacant member or alternate member position shall
fulfill all the qualifications set forth in this article as required
for the member or alternate member whose office he or she is to
fill.

67054. (a) Producer members and their alternates on the commission
shall have a financial interest in producing, or causing to be
produced, avocados for market. In order to be elected a member or
alternate, a producer shall, at the time of the election, have a
financial interest in the production of avocados within the district
in which the producer stands for election.
(b) A producer may stand for election in any district in which the
producer has a financial interest in the production of avocados.
(c) A producer who chooses to stand for election in a particular
district shall not stand for election in any other district for a
period of four years from the date of his or her most recent election
to the commission. However, this subdivision does not apply in an
election to fill vacancies created by the reapportionment of
districts pursuant to Section 67042.
(d) Handler members and their alternates shall have a financial
interest in handling avocados for markets.
(e) The public member shall not have any financial interest in the
avocado industry. Except for the nomination of another public
member, the public member and his or her alternate on the commission
shall have all the powers, rights, and privileges of any other member
on the commission.

67055. The term of office of all members and alternates, except the
ex officio member, shall be for two years from the date of their
election and until their successors are qualified; provided, however,
that of the first members of the commission from each district, one
shall serve for one year, and one shall serve for two years, with the
determination of term of each such member to be made by lot.
Subsequent to the election of the first members and alternates of the
commission, the terms of the members and alternates shall continue
to be staggered, as provided in this section. Terms of office of each
member and alternate shall be limited to four consecutive terms.

67056. The commission shall be and is hereby declared and created a
corporate body. It has the power to sue and be sued, to contract and
be contracted with, and has and possesses all of the powers of a
corporation. It may adopt a corporate seal. Copies of its
proceedings, records, and acts, when certified by an officer, are
admissible in evidence in all courts of the state, and are prima
facie evidence of the truth of all statements therein.

67057. The commission 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 commission.

67058. The commission shall have the power to appoint committees
composed of both members and nonmembers of the commission to advise
the commission in carrying out this chapter.

67059. Unless otherwise specified, a quorum of the commission shall
be any 11 voting members. The vote of a majority of members present
at a meeting at which there is a quorum shall constitute the act of
the commission.

67059.5. The secretary or his or her representatives shall be
notified and may attend each meeting of the commission.

67060. No commission member or alternate or member of a committee
who is a nonmember of the commission shall receive a salary. Each
commission member and alternate, except the ex officio member, and
each member of a committee who is a nonmember of the commission shall
receive a sum of not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100) per day,
as established by the commission, for each day spent in actual
attendance at or in traveling to and from meetings of the commission
or committees of the commission, or on authorized assignment for the
commission, together with the necessary traveling expenses and meal
allowances, as approved by the commission.

67061. All moneys received by any person from the assessments
levied under the authority of this chapter or otherwise received by
the commission, shall be deposited in such financial institutions as
the commission may designate and shall be disbursed by order of the
commission through a member, officer, or employee designated for that
purpose. Any such person shall be bonded by a fidelity bond,
executed by a surety company authorized to transact business as such
in the State of California, in favor of the commission, conditioned
upon the strict accounting of all funds of the commission in the
penal sum of not less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).

67062. The state is not liable for the acts of the commission or
its contracts, except for state-directed supervision of the avocado
inspection program, as specified in Chapter 9 (commencing with
Section 44971) of Division 17, which is performed under an agreement
that specifies that each of the parties shall be responsible and
liable for that party's decisions made pursuant to the agreement, and
that each of the parties shall not be held liable by the other party
for the decisions made pursuant to the agreement. Payment of all
claims arising by reason of the administration of this chapter or
acts of the commission shall be limited to the funds collected by the
commission. No member of the commission or alternate member, or any
employee or agent thereof, shall be personally liable on the
contracts of the commission nor shall a member, alternate member, or
employee of the commission be responsible individually in any way to
any producer or handler or any other person for error in judgment,
mistakes, or other acts, either of commission or omission, as
principal, agent, or employee, except for his or her own individual
acts of dishonesty or crime. No member or alternate member shall be
held responsible individually for any act or omission of any member
of the commission. The liability of the members shall be several and
not joint, and no member shall be liable for the default of any other
members.