AB 2783: San Diego Unified Port District.

(1)The San Diego Unified Port District Act authorizes the establishment of the San Diego Unified Port District for the acquisition, construction, maintenance, operation, development, and regulation of harbor works and improvements for the harbor of San Diego and for the promotion of commerce, navigation, fisheries, and recreation. The act establishes the board of commissioners of the port district and vests it with specified authority and responsibilities regarding the management of the district.

This bill would require the board to adopt a code of ethics for the board, commissioners, and unrepresented district employees and to accept and respond to certain ethics complaints, as specified. The bill would require the board to appoint a board of ethics to provide independent ethics advice to the board, as specified. The bill would require an ethics complaint to be substantiated with a formal written complaint in a form consistent with a form provided on the districts internet website and with a sworn affidavit under the penalty of perjury. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the board to submit certain ethics complaints to the board of ethics, as specified. The bill would require the board of ethics, upon the conclusion of an investigation into the conduct of a commissioner, to provide all findings from the investigation to the State Lands Commission and to the city that appointed the commissioner that was subject to the investigation.

This bill would prohibit a commissioner from lobbying, contracting with, or being employed by the board or the district until after the expiration of one year, beginning January 1 of the year following a commissioners end of term or resignation. from, for a period of one year after leaving office, taking certain actions for the purpose of influencing an action of the board or the district, as specified. The bill would require the district to establish a registry for lobbyists, as specified. The bill would authorize the district to collect a registration fee in an amount not to exceed the reasonable cost of implementing the registry, as specified.

(2)The act requires the City of San Diego to appoint 3 commissioners and other specified cities to appoint one commissioner each to the board of commissioners. The act specifies a commissioners term is for 4 years, as specified.

This bill would authorize a commissioner to continue to serve beyond an expired term for 6 months until a replacement is appointed. The bill would require the City of San Diego to make a good faith attempt to appoint one commissioner that resides in one of 5 specified neighborhoods within that city and at least one commissioner that is a current or former member of the maritime and cargo handling industry. to, at the beginning of its commissioner appointment process, to make specified outreach efforts.

(3)The act requires the board of commissioners to annually elect from its members a chairperson, a vice chairperson, and a secretary. The act requires the board of commissioners to make rules and regulations for its own government and procedure. Existing law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, requires each legislative body of a local agency to provide notice of the time and place for its regular meetings and also requires that all meetings of a legislative body be open and public, and that all persons be permitted to attend unless a closed session is authorized. The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies. Existing law requires the board of commissioners to comply with those acts, except as specified.

This bill would prohibit a commissioner from serving as chairperson unless the commissioner has served on the board for at least one year. The bill would clarify that the board of commissioners, if it acts to censure or strip a commissioner of their duties based on alleged unethical or unlawful conduct, to disclose to the public all documents and evidence related to the alleged conduct in accordance with the requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act and the California Public Records Act. authorize the board to censure or remove a commissioner from a committee after appropriate notice and if specified criteria are met.

(4)The act prohibits a commissioner from receiving a salary from the district and requires a commissioner to be reimbursed for necessary traveling and other expenses incurred while engaged in the performance of the commissioners duties.

(6)This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the San Diego Unified Port District.