2005 California Government Code Sections 61025-61030 CHAPTER 2. REORGANIZING THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

61025.  (a) If a majority of the voters voting upon the question are
in favor of the question at a general district or special election,
a board of directors may be elected by one of the following methods:
   (1) At large.
   (2) By divisions.
   (3) From divisions.
   (b) The board of directors may adopt a resolution placing the
question on the ballot. Alternatively, upon receipt of a petition
signed by at least 25 percent of the registered voters of the
district, the board of directors shall adopt a resolution placing the
question on the ballot.
   (c) If the question is submitted to the voters at a general
district election, the notice required by Section 12112 of the
Elections Code shall contain a statement of the question to appear on
the ballot. If the question is submitted to the voters at a special
election, the notice of election and ballot shall contain a statement
of the question.
   (d) If the majority of voters voting upon the question approves of
the election of directors either by divisions or from divisions, the
board of directors shall promptly adopt a resolution dividing the
district into five divisions.  The resolution shall assign a number
to each division. Using the last decennial census as a basis, the
divisions shall be as nearly equal in population as possible. In
establishing the boundaries of the divisions, the board of directors
may give consideration to the following factors:
   (1) Topography.
   (2) Geography.
   (3) Cohesiveness, contiguity, integrity, and compactness of
territory.
   (4) Community of interests of the divisions.
   (e) If the majority of voters voting upon the question approves of
the election of directors either by divisions or from divisions,
then at the next election, the members of the board of directors
shall be so elected. Each member elected by division or from division
shall be a resident of the election division by which or from which
he or she is elected. At the district general election, following the
approval by the voters of the election of directors either by
divisions or from divisions, the board of directors shall assign
vacancies on the board of directors created by the expiration of
terms to the respective divisions and the vacancies shall be filled
either by or from those divisions.
   (f) If the majority of voters voting on the question approves of
the election of directors at large, the board of directors shall
promptly adopt a resolution dissolving the divisions which had
existed.
61026.  In the case of a board of directors elected by divisions or
from divisions, the board of directors shall adjust the boundaries of
the divisions before November 1 of the year following the year in
which each decennial census is taken. If at any time between each
decennial census, a change of organization or reorganization alters
the population of the district, the board of directors shall
reexamine the boundaries of its divisions. If the board of directors
finds that the population of any division has varied so that the
divisions no longer meet the criteria specified in subdivision (d) of
Section 61025, the board of directors shall adjust the boundaries of
the divisions so that the divisions shall be as nearly equal in
population as possible. The board of directors shall make this change
within 60 days of the effective date of the change of organization
or reorganization.
61027.  (a) This section applies only to a district where the board
of supervisors is the district's board of directors and more than
five years have passed since the effective date of the district's
formation.
   (b) Upon receipt of a petition signed by at least 10 percent of
the voters of the district, the board of directors shall adopt a
resolution placing the question on the ballot. Alternatively, the
board of directors may adopt a resolution placing the question on the
ballot. The petition or resolution shall specify whether the board
of directors will be elected at large, by divisions, or from
divisions.
   (c) If a majority of the voters voting upon the question at a
general election or special election are in favor, the district shall
have an elected board of directors.
   (d) At the election, the voters shall also elect members to the
district's board of directors. Those persons shall take office only
if a majority of the voters voting upon the question of having an
elected board of directors are in favor of the question.
   (e) If the question is submitted to the voters at a general
district election, the notice required by Section 12112 of the
Elections Code shall contain a statement of the question to appear on
the ballot. If the question is submitted to the voters at a special
election, the notice of election and ballot shall contain a statement
of the question.
61028.  (a) Before circulating any petition pursuant to Section
61025 or Section 61027, the proponents shall publish a notice of
intention, which shall include a written statement not to exceed 500
words in length, setting forth the reasons for the proposal. The
notice shall be published pursuant to Section 6061 in one or more
newspapers of general circulation within the district. If the
district is located in more than one county, publication of the
notice shall be made in at least one newspaper of general circulation
in each county.
   (b) The notice shall be signed by at least one, but not more than
three, proponents and shall be in substantially the following form:
   "Notice of Intent to Circulate Petition
   "Notice is hereby given of the intention to circulate a petition
affecting the Board of Directors of the _________ (name of the
district). The petition proposes that _______________ (description of
the proposal)."
   (c) Within five days after the date of publication, the proponents
shall file with the secretary of the board of directors a copy of
the notice together with an affidavit made by a representative of the
newspaper in which the notice was published certifying to the fact
of publication.
   (d) After the filing required by subdivision (c), the petition may
be circulated for signatures.
   (e)  Sections 100 and 104 of the Elections Code shall govern the
signing of the petition and the format of the petition.
   (f) A petition may consist of a single instrument or separate
counterparts. The proponents shall file the petition, together with
all counterparts, with the secretary of the board of directors. The
secretary shall not accept a petition for filing unless the
signatures have been secured within six months of the date on which
the first signature was obtained and the proponents submitted the
petition to the secretary for filing within 60 days after the last
signature was obtained.
   (g) Within 30 days after the date of filing a petition, the
secretary of the board of directors shall cause the petition to be
examined by the county elections official, in accordance with
Sections 9113 to 9115, inclusive, of the Elections Code, and shall
prepare a certificate of sufficiency indicating whether the petition
is signed by the requisite number of signers.
   (h) If the certificate of the secretary shows the petition to be
insufficient, the secretary shall immediately give notice, by
certified mail, of the insufficiency to the proponents. That mailed
notice shall state in what amount the petition is insufficient.
Within 15 days after the date of the notice of insufficiency, the
proponents may file with the secretary a supplemental petition
bearing additional signatures.
   (i) Within 10 days after the date of filing a supplemental
petition, the secretary shall cause the supplemental petition to be
examined by the county elections official.
   (j) The secretary shall sign and date a certificate of
sufficiency. That certificate shall also state the minimum signature
requirements for a sufficient petition and show the results of the
secretary's examination. The secretary shall mail a copy of the
certificate of sufficiency to the proponents.
   (k) Once the proponents have filed a sufficient petition, the
board of directors shall take the actions required pursuant to
Section 61025 or Section 61027.
61029.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the
Board of Supervisors of San Joaquin County shall be the Board of
Directors of the Mountain House Community Services District, until
conversion to a directly elected board of directors.
   (b) When the registrar of voters certifies in writing that the
number of voters in the district has reached or exceeded 1,000, the
Board of Supervisors of San Joaquin County shall adopt a resolution
placing the question of having an elected board of directors on the
ballot. The resolution shall specify whether the board of directors
will be elected at large, by divisions, or from divisions.
   (c) If the question is submitted to the voters at a general
district election, the notice required by Section 12112 of the
Elections Code shall contain a statement of the question to appear on
the ballot. If the question is submitted to the voters at a special
election, the notice of election and ballot shall contain a statement
of the question.
   (d) If a majority of voters voting upon the question approves of
electing the board of directors, the members of the board of
directors shall be elected at the next general district election.
61030.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, the
local agency formation commission, in approving either a
consolidation or reorganization of two or more special districts into
a single community services district, may, pursuant to subdivisions
(k) and (n) of Section 56886, temporarily increase the number of
members to serve on the board of directors of the consolidated or
reorganized district to 7, 9, or 11, who shall be members of the
boards of directors of the districts to be consolidated or
reorganized as of the effective date of the consolidation or
reorganization.
   (b) Upon the expiration of the terms of the members of the board
of directors of the consolidated or reorganized district whose terms
first expire following the effective date of the consolidation or
reorganization, the total number of members on the board of directors
shall be reduced until the number of members equals five.
   (c) In addition to the powers granted under Section 1780, in the
event of a vacancy on the board of directors of the consolidated or
reorganized district at which time the total number of members of the
board of directors is greater than five, the board of directors may,
by majority vote of the remaining members of the board, choose not
to fill the vacancy. In that event, the total membership of the board
of directors shall be reduced by one member. Upon making the
determination not to fill a vacancy, the board of directors shall
notify the board of supervisors of its decision.
   (d) This section applies only to a consolidation or reorganization
in which each subject agency was an independent special district
prior to the initiation of the consolidation or reorganization.
   (e) As used in this section, "consolidation" means a consolidation
as defined by Section 56030, "special district" means a special
district as defined by Section 56036, "independent special district"
means an independent special district as defined by Section 56044,
and "reorganization" means a reorganization as defined by Section
56073.