Article 3. The California Pistachio Commission of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 22. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 7. >> Article 3.

There is in the state government the California Pistachio Commission. The commission shall be composed of eight pistachio producers and one public member. Producers within the respective districts shall elect four producers from District 1, three producers from District 2, and one producer from District 3. The public member shall be appointed to the commission by the secretary from the nominees recommended by the commission. The secretary and other appropriate individuals as determined by the commission shall be nonvoting ex officio members of the commission.

The secretary may require the commission to correct or cease any existing activity or function that is determined by the secretary not to be in the public interest or to be in violation of this chapter. If the commission refuses or fails to cease those activities or functions or to make corrections required by the secretary, the secretary may, upon written notice, suspend all or a portion of the activities or functions of the commission until the cessation or correction of activities or functions as required by the secretary has been accomplished by the commission. Actions of the commission in violation of the written notice are without legal force or effect. The secretary, to the extent feasible, shall issue written notice prior to the commission entering into any contractual relationship affecting the existing or proposed activities or functions that are the subject of the written notice. Upon service of the written notice, the secretary shall notify the commission in writing of the specific acts that the secretary determines are not in the public interest or are in violation of this chapter, the secretary's reasons for requiring a cessation or correction of specific existing or proposed activities or functions, and the secretary may make recommendations that will make those activities or functions acceptable.

The commission or the secretary may bring an action for judicial relief from the secretary's written notice, or from noncompliance by the commission with the written notice, in a court of competent jurisdiction, which may issue a temporary restraining order, permanent injunction, or other applicable relief.

The commission shall reimburse the secretary for all expenditures incurred by the secretary in carrying out his or her duties and responsibilities under this chapter. However, the court may, if it finds that the secretary acted arbitrarily or capriciously in restricting the activities or functions of the commission, relieve the commission of the responsibility for payment of the secretary's legal costs with regard to the action.

Each member of the commission, except the ex officio members, 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 is alternate, serve 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 serving on the commission. In the event of death, removal, resignation, or the disqualification of a member, the alternate shall act as a member on the commission until a successor is elected and has qualified.

Any vacancy on the commission occurring by the failure of any person elected to the commission as a member or alternate member to continue in his or her position due to a change in status making the member ineligible to serve, or due to death, removal, or resignation, shall be filled, for the unexpired portion of the term, by a majority vote of the commission. However, that person shall fulfill all the qualifications set forth in this article as required for the member whose office that person is to fill. The qualifications of any person to fill a vacancy on the commission shall be certified in writing to the secretary. The secretary shall notify the commission if the secretary determines that any such person is not qualified.

A producer member or his alternate on the commission shall be an individual, partner, or employee of a producer who has a financial interest in producing, or causing to be produced, pistachios for market. Not more than two such members shall be persons employed by, or connected in a proprietary capacity with, the same corporation, firm, partnership, association, or business organization and not more than one such member in any one district shall be so employed or connected. Qualification as a producer member must continue during the entire term of office.

The public member or his alternate on the commission, shall have all the powers, rights, and privileges of any other member on the commission. The public member shall not have any financial interest in the pistachio industry.

The term of office of all commissioners, except any ex officio member, shall be two years from the date of their election and until their successors are qualified; provided, however, that of the first members of the commission, one-half of the producers shall serve for one year, and one-half of the producers shall serve for two years, with the determination of term of each such member to be made by lot at the time of election. Terms of office of each commissioner shall be limited to four consecutive terms.

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

A quorum of the commission shall be any five voting commissioners. Except as provided in Sections 69019 and 69102, the vote of a majority of members present at a meeting at which there is quorum shall constitute the act of the commission.

The secretary or the secretary's representatives shall be notified and may attend each meeting of the commission, and any committee meeting of the commission.

No commissioner or member of a committee established by the commission who is a nonmember of the commission shall receive a salary. Each commissioner, except ex officio government members, and each member of a committee established by the commission who is a nonmember of the commission may 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 special assignment for the commission, as approved by the commission, together with the necessary traveling expenses and meal allowances, as approved by the commission.

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 banks as the commission may designate and shall be disbursed by order of the commission through such agent or agents as it may designate for that purpose. Any such agent or agents 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, in the amount of not less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).

The state is not liable for the acts of the commission or its contracts. Payments 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, is personally liable on the contracts of the commission and no commissioner, alternate member, or employee of the commission is responsible individually in any way to any producer, processor, producer-supplier, 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 commissioner or alternate member shall be held responsible individually for any act or omission of any member of the commission. The liability of the commissioners is several and not joint, and no commissioner is liable for the default of any other commissioner.

All proprietary information obtained by the commission or the secretary from producers, processors, or producer-suppliers shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed except when required by a court order after a hearing in a judicial proceeding involving this chapter. Information on volume shipments, crop value, and any other related information that is required for reports to governmental agencies, financial reports to the commission or aggregate sales and inventory information, and any other information that the processors or producer-suppliers request from the commission to receive in total, excluding individual processor or producer-supplier information, may be disclosed by the commission.