Community college districts: trustee elections.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, which are administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. The board of governors provides general supervision over each community college district and performs specified functions. Each community college district is under the control of a board of trustees. Existing law provides various procedures for the nomination and election of the governing boards of community college districts. Existing law specifies the number of members on the board, residency requirements, length of terms, and the drawing of trustee boundaries. This bill would authorize the governing board of a community college district to change election systems, as specified, in accordance with the provisions of this bill and the California Voting Rights Act of 2001, subject to approval by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. The bill would authorize the governing board of a community college district to establish elections by trustee areas. In establishing trustee areas, the territory of a district would be divided into trustee areas, and one member of the governing board would be elected from each trustee area. A candidate for election as a member of the governing board would be required to reside in, and be registered to vote in, the trustee area he or she seeks to represent. The governing board would be authorized to set the initial boundaries of each trustee area to reflect the population enumerated in the most recent decennial federal census. Thereafter, the boundaries of trustee areas would be adjusted, abolished, or rearranged as specified. This bill would authorize the governing board of a community college district to determine the number of trustees, and would require the governing board to be composed of 5 to 9 members. The board would be authorized to establish, abolish, or adjust trustee areas and terms of office, as specified. The bill would specify that the act would not apply to any community college district that is authorized by statute to provide for its own trustee elections. (2) This bill would establish a procedure for the number of members, the election of members, and the reapportionment of trustee areas of the governing board of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District in accordance with the provisions of this bill and the California Voting Rights Act of 2001. The bill would provide that candidates for election to the board be nominated by trustee area, as defined, at a primary election held on the date of the statewide direct primary election. The 2 candidates receiving the highest number of votes would be the nominees for the general election for that trustee area. The candidate receiving a majority of the votes cast in the general election would be elected to represent that district, and would hold office for a 4-year term, as specified. Members of the board holding office on the effective date of this bill would continue to hold office, as specified. The bill would require the governing board to be composed of 5 to 9 members, as determined by the board, and to establish, abolish, or adjust trustee areas and terms of office, as specified. This bill would require the boundaries for trustee areas established by resolution of the governing board of the district, or adopted by the county committee on school district organization prior to January 1, 2012, to reflect population changes enumerated in the 2010 decennial federal census, to be in effect when the bill becomes operative. The bill would require the boundaries to be set so that the population of each area is in proportion to the other districts. The bill would thereafter require the boundaries to be adjusted, abolished, or rearranged, as specified. (3) By imposing the above requirements on the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.