Article 1. Harbor Commission of California Harbors And Navigation Code >> Division 7. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 1.

In any county of this State in which there exists any harbor, bay, inlet, or other arm of the sea, the board of supervisors, upon receiving a petition signed by persons who are both freeholders and electors in such county, equal in number to at least fifteen per cent of the vote cast in the county for the office of Governor at the last preceding election, asking that the matter of issuing bonds of the county for the purpose of improving, developing or protecting the harbor, naming it by the name by which it is commonly called, be submitted to the electors of the county, may appoint a harbor commission for the county, which shall perform the duties and exercise the powers specified in this chapter.

The harbor commission shall consist of five members, each of whom, at the time of his appointment, is and has been for two years a bona fide resident, elector, and freeholder of the county. The commissioners shall be appointed to serve for the term of four years, and until their successors are appointed and qualified, and any vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the board of supervisors.

(a) Each commissioner shall, within 20 days after receiving notice of appointment, qualify by taking and subscribing the constitutional oath of office, and by executing and filing with the clerk of the county in which the commissioner is appointed, a bond in a sum to be fixed by the board of supervisors, which bond, when approved by the superior court of the county, shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder, as other official bonds are recorded, at any time subsequent to 20 days after the appointment.
  (b) The commissioners, or a majority of them having qualified, shall meet at a convenient place in the county and organize by electing a chairperson.

Each member of the commission shall receive five dollars for each day actually and necessarily spent in the discharge of his duties under this chapter, together with his necessary traveling expenses to be allowed and paid monthly by the board upon verified demands presented by each commissioner.

When a harbor commission appointed under the provisions of this chapter ceases to exist another harbor commission may thereafter be created by the board without requiring an additional petition, and the harbor commission when so created may exercise all of the powers and is governed by the provisions of this chapter to the same extent as the commission first appointed.

If, after a careful survey, investigation and examination, the commission reports to the board of supervisors that the improvement, development or protection of the harbor is not practicable, or would involve too great an expense, and if the report is approved by the board, the harbor commission shall cease to exist. If the proposition for the issuance of the bonds of the county for the improvement, development, or protection of the harbor, when submitted to the electors, fails to carry by the requisite number of votes, or when any proposed improvement, development or protection of the harbor is completed, and that fact is established by a finding of the board, the harbor commission shall cease to exist, unless the board shall, by an order entered upon its minutes continue the commission in existence for the purpose of carrying out any additional improvement, development or protection of the harbor, bay, inlet, or other arm of the sea.

When any improvement, development or protection of a bay, inlet, or other arm of the sea, commenced under this chapter is accomplished, and if the board continues the commission in existence, or if it thereafter creates another commission, the commission shall proceed to examine the harbor, bay, inlet or other arm of the sea in connection with the proposed further or additional improvement, development or protection and it shall provide detail plans and specifications therefor and report to the board the practicability and estimated cost. The board shall then proceed as if the report was an original one.

The commission may, with the approval of the board of supervisors, appoint and fix the compensation of a clerk, and his necessary office assistants, and it may also employ and appoint an engineer or engineers and other experts, and, if in its judgment it is necessary, employ an attorney. All employees and appointees shall hold office at the pleasure of the commission.

Whenever the commission ceases to exist, it shall make a final report to the board and file all books, records and papers appurtenant to the commission and to all work done by it with the board, and, if the report is approved by the board, the commission is discharged from duty and its bonds from that date exonerated.

This chapter does not apply to any harbor, bay, inlet, or other arm of the sea, or any portion thereof, maintained or operated by the State or any municipality or to any harbor, bay, inlet, or other arm of the sea, in which the State, since the present State constitution was adopted, has ceded or granted to any municipality the whole or any portion of the salt-marsh or tidelands.