Chapter 8. Method Of Election For The Rancho California Water District of California Water Code >> Division 13. >> Part 4. >> Chapter 8.

This chapter shall apply only to the manner in which elections are conducted in the Rancho California Water District. For the purposes of this chapter, "district" means the Rancho California Water District.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, or the bylaws of the district, all district elections held after the transition period provided in Section 35232 shall be conducted as resident voter elections. Except as provided in this chapter, the district shall continue to be operated, managed, and governed as a California water district in accordance with this division and other applicable provisions of law.

(a) In order to facilitate an orderly transition to resident voter elections, commencing with the 1991 district election, there shall be a transition period which shall continue until the entire board is elected by resident vote. At each election, during the transition period, one new director position shall convert to a resident voter position and, thereafter, shall remain a resident voter position, in accordance with the following:
  (1) At the 1991 district election, one director shall be elected by resident voters and two directors shall be elected by landowner voters.
  (2) At the 1993 district election, one director shall be elected by resident voters and three directors shall be elected by landowner voters.
  (3) At the 1995 district election, two directors shall be elected by resident voters and one director shall be elected by landowner voters.
  (4) At the 1997 district election, two directors shall be elected by resident voters and two directors shall be elected by landowner voters.
  (5) At the 1999 district election, three directors shall be elected by resident voters.
  (6) At the 2001 district election, three directors shall be elected by resident voters and one director shall be elected by landowner voters.
  (b) Following the 2001 district election, subsequent district director elections shall be resident voter elections. The transition period shall conclude when the term of the last director elected by landowner voters ends in 2005.

District elections shall be conducted in conformance with the Uniform District Election Law (Part 4 (commencing with Section 10500) of Division 10 of the Elections Code) and the laws generally applicable to districts created and operated pursuant to this division, except that during the transition period provided in Section 35232, the following shall apply:
  (a) During the transition period, at district general elections, some directors shall be elected by resident voters while others shall be elected by landowner voters. Separate ballots shall be prepared and separate elections shall be conducted for those director positions which will be elected by resident voters and for those which will be elected by landowner voters. Notwithstanding Section 10555 of the Elections Code, these landowner voter elections and resident voter elections shall be conducted simultaneously.
  (b) During the transition period, district elections shall continue, as presently authorized, to be conducted by all-mailed ballots pursuant to Section 4108 of the Elections Code. Following the transition period, the all-mailed ballot procedure may be revoked under the procedures of Section 4003 of the Elections Code or district elections may be consolidated with the statewide general election as provided by Section 10404 of the Elections Code.
  (c) During the transition period, separate voter lists of resident voters and landowner voters eligible to vote within the district shall be prepared and maintained according to applicable provisions of law. Separate all-mailed ballot elections shall be held for the directors to be elected by resident voters and for those to be elected by landowner voters.
  (d) During the transition period, district directors shall continue to be elected on an at-large basis. Following the transition period, the district board of directors may determine to establish director divisions in accordance with Section 35215.
  (e) During the transition period, the district board of directors shall consist of seven directors. Following the transition period, the number of directors on the district board of directors may be changed in accordance with Sections 34708 and 34708.5.
  (f) During the transition period, any district election held for the purpose of obtaining voter approval for bonded or other indebtedness shall be conducted as a landowner voter election. Following the transition period, any district election held for the purpose of obtaining voter approval for bonded or other indebtedness shall be conducted as a resident voter election.
  (g) During the transition period, a person who qualifies according to Section 35234 both to be a director elected by resident voters and a director elected by landowner voters may run for the district board of directors on both the resident voter ballot and the landowner voter ballot on the same election date. In the event that the same person is elected to the district board on both ballots, the person shall be declared elected on the resident voter ballot and not elected on the landowner voter ballot. The candidate with the next highest number of votes on the landowner voter ballot shall be declared elected. If this procedure results in fewer remaining candidates than there are landowner voter director positions to be filled, then the unfilled positions shall be treated as vacant and filled according to subdivision (h).
  (h) During the transition period, any vacancy on the district board shall be filled according to the procedures contained in Section 1780 of the Government Code. To be eligible to fill a vacancy, a person shall be qualified to be a director according to Section 35234 either as a director elected by resident voters if the person who vacated the position was elected by resident voters, or as a director elected by landowner voters if the person who vacated the position was elected by landowner voters.

All directors elected by resident voters shall be residents of, and registered voters in, the district at the time of their election and during their term of office. During the transition period, directors elected by landowner voters shall be qualified according to Section 34700 at the time of election and during their term of office.

Only resident voters, registered to vote in the manner prescribed by law, shall be eligible to vote for district directors to be elected by resident voters. During the transition period, landowner voters qualified according to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 35000) shall be eligible to vote for district directors to be elected by landowner voters.

This chapter shall in no way invalidate any action of the district or of its directors, or officers, and employees made or performed while the district was operating as a landowner voting district.

Nothing in this chapter shall affect any acts or proceedings previously taken for the authorization, issuance, or sale of any bonds of the district in any manner provided by law prior to the effective date of this chapter or affect the ability of the district to sell and issue any bond previously authorized. For the purposes of this chapter, "bonds" shall include notes and any other evidences of indebtedness.