Plain English Breakdown
The official source does not provide an effective date for this bill.
Changes to Rules for Regional Parks and Open-Space Districts
This law updates rules for district staff roles, changes the lease length that requires a voter election from over 25 years to over 50 years, lowers the vote needed to trade land, increases trading limits for specific districts, and raises spending limits for general managers in large districts.
What This Bill Does
- Consolidates and modifies roles and pay rules for officers appointed by district boards.
- Raises the lease length that requires a special election from voters to sell park land from over 25 years to over 50 years.
- Allows districts to trade park or open-space land with a two-thirds board vote instead of requiring every member to agree.
- Increases the yearly limit for trading district-owned land from 40 acres to 80 acres for specific named districts.
- Lets general managers in large districts spend up to $150,000 on equipment and materials without advertising if the board approves a policy first.
Who It Names or Affects
- Regional park, park and open-space, and open-space district boards of directors.
- General managers and other officers working for these districts.
- The East Bay Regional Park District, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District.
Terms To Know
- Conveyance
- Transferring ownership or rights to land from one party to another.
- Special election
- A vote held at a specific time for voters in the district to decide on an issue, separate from regular elections.
- Bind the district
- The legal power of an official to make agreements that require the district to pay money or provide goods.
Limits and Unknowns
- The law does not state a specific effective date in the provided text.
- Rules for accepting cash instead of land apply only when trading with public agencies and only if no similar trade is possible, specifically for the East Bay Regional Park District.
- Higher spending limits for general managers apply only to districts serving populations of 200,000 or more.