Sanitary District Considers By-Division Election System For Board

Press release from Central Contra Costa Sanitary District:

Aug. 13, 2020

Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (Central San) conducts its elections for Board of Directors at-large. The District received a certified letter on July 13, 2020 asserting that the District's at-large electoral system violates the California Voting Rights Act, codified at California Elections Code sections 14025-14032 ("CVRA"). The letter did not provide any evidence of a violation, but the District takes the assertions in the letter very seriously and is considering appropriate action. The letter threatens litigation if the District does not adopt a by-division election system.

In an at-large election system, every voter in the District is entitled to vote for every candidate for the Board of Directors. In alternating even-numbered election years the District voters elect either two or three members to the Board of Directors by a plurality-win vote with the top vote-getters elected. In a by-division election system, the District would be divided into sub-parts called director divisions for the purposes of conducting elections. Voters in a division would vote once every four years and only for candidates who live in that division.

On August 20, 2020, the Board of Directors will hold a public meeting on this issue and consider a response to the certified letter asserting a violation of the California Voting Rights Act. One option under consideration is commencing the process to change the District’s electoral system from at-large to by-division and the timeframe for making that change. Based on timing, changing to by-division elections would not be effective for the 2020 elections for Board of Directors.

The public meeting will take place at 1:30 P.M. All Central San Board and Committee meetings will be held in accordance with the Brown Act as currently in effect under the State Emergency Services Act, the Governor’s Emergency Declaration related to COVID-19, and the Governor’s Executive Order N-29-20 issued on March 17, 2020 that allows attendance by Board Members, District staff, and the public to participate and conduct the meeting by teleconference, videoconference, or both.

Members of the public wishing to provide public comment for items on any upcoming Central San public meeting agenda may do so as follows:

1. Email: You may email comments to sod@centralsan.org no later than one hour prior to the meeting.
2. Telephone: You may record your comments at (925) 229-7303 no later than one hour prior to the meeting.
3. During Board Meetings: All regular Central San Board meetings are livestreamed at centralsan.org. If you wish to make a comment during the meeting, please email your comment to sod@centralsan.org.

Please identify the agenda item you wish to address. All comments will be read into the record.

If you have any questions related to participation in Central San Board or Committee meetings, please call (925) 229-7303.

This press release was produced by Central Contra Costa Sanitary District. The views expressed here are the author's own.