Article 3. San Joaquin Valley Cotton Board of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 18. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 3.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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 Human Resources 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.