SECTIONS 9351-9359 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 9351-9359

9351. "General district election" is the district election required
to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November
in each even-numbered year, at which a successor shall be chosen for
each director whose term of office expires in that month.

9352. (a) Directors shall be registered voters in the state.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (d), directors shall (1)
reside within the district and either own real property in the
district or alternatively have served, pursuant to the district's
rules, for two years or more as an associate director providing
advisory or other assistance to the board of directors, or (2) be a
designated agent of a resident landowner within the district.
(c) If the board of directors has provided for selection of
directors by division, these residency requirements shall apply to
the division the director represents, rather than to the district as
a whole.
(d) The Legislature finds and declares that the primary function
of the Suisun Resource Conservation District and Grasslands Resource
Conservation District in maintaining wildlife and wetland habitats
will be impaired unless there is adequate opportunity for
participation by landowners on the boards of directors of those
districts. The Legislature further finds and declares that, because
of the natural conditions prevailing in the territory of those
districts, the majority of privately owned lands therein are owned by
persons residing outside the districts. Therefore, owners of land
within the Suisun Resource Conservation District and Grasslands
Resource Conservation District, or their agents, may serve on the
respective boards of directors thereof, regardless of whether they
are residents of the district. For purposes of this subdivision,
ownership of land shall be determined from the last equalized
assessment roll of the county or counties within which the district
is situated.

9353. Except as otherwise provided in the chapter, districts
governed by this chapter are subject to the provisions of the Uniform
District Election Law.

9354. Elected directors shall qualify within 20 days from the date
of receipt of their certificates of election by taking the oath.

9355. The directors so elected and qualified shall take office at
noon on the last Friday in November following their election.

9356. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), directors shall be
elected at large.
(b) A district may, by ordinance, provide for the election of
directors by division. In order to reduce election costs, the
divisions shall be established along the boundaries of existing
voting precincts. Prior to adopting an ordinance pursuant to this
subdivision, the text of the proposed ordinance, including proposed
division boundaries, shall be published pursuant to Section 6066 of
the Government Code, together with notice of the hearing at which the
ordinance will be considered. At the time stated in the notice for
the hearing, the board of directors shall consider the proposal and
shall hear any and all objections thereto. If, after the hearing, the
board determines it to be in the best interests of the district, it
shall adopt the ordinance as proposed or as amended at the hearing.
Directors in office at the time of adoption of the ordinance shall
remain in office until the next general district election, at which a
director shall be elected to each division established by the
ordinance. The directors elected at that election shall meet and
classify themselves by lot into two classes as nearly equal in number
as possible. The term of office of those in the class having the
least number shall expire at noon on the last Friday in November of
the next even-numbered year after the year in which the meeting is
held. The term of office of those in the other class shall expire at
noon on the last Friday in November of the second even-numbered year
after the year in which the meeting is held.
(c) If it is proposed to change the number of directors of a
district divided into divisions, or if it is proposed to change the
number of divisions in a district, that change shall be conditional
upon adoption by the board of directors of a new or revised ordinance
under subdivision (b) and the provisions and procedures of
subdivision (b) shall be applicable thereto.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (b) and (c), in any district in
which directors are appointed pursuant to Section 9314 or 9316, the
board of supervisors of the principal county shall make the
appointments by division, as called for in the ordinance adopted
pursuant to subdivision (b), and those appointments shall become
effective, and the terms of existing directors shall expire, on the
same date as if the directors were elected.

9357. Members of county boards of supervisors shall not be eligible
to simultaneously hold office as a district director.

9358. Nomination of candidates shall be in writing and signed by at
least five landowners of the district. Nominations shall be filed
with the county elections official of the principal county.

9359. Except as election of directors by division may be provided
pursuant to Section 9356, all registered voters in a district shall
be qualified electors and eligible to vote in district elections.