9351-9359
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.