Newsom signs water bill into law
A bill aiming to make Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency board of directors’ operations more efficient is now law after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Sen. Scott Wilk’s Senate Bill 387.
The legislation introduced by Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, and coauthored by Assemblywoman Christy Smith, D-Santa Clarita, authorizes the agency’s board of directors to eliminate a board position if there is a vacancy before the next election, enabling the board to avoid an election or appointment process for a seat required to be eliminated under SB 634, Wilk’s 2017 bill that
created the water agency.
Under SB 634, SCV Water Agency’s board is required to reduce its membership total from 15 to nine. The previous law stated that the board can choose to appoint a successor if an elected initial member vacates office “but may leave the seat vacant so long as the electoral division in which the vacancy occurs will still have at least four members,” according to the bill analysis.
SB 387 is “cleanup legislation,” according to SCV Water Agency President Bill Cooper, who added that “providing the option to eliminate vacant positions allows us to conduct business in a more cost-effective and efficient manner, which are two of the main goals behind forming a regional water agency.”
“It cleans up some of the technical issues that came about when our new regional water agency was created in 2017,” Wilk said in a statement. “SB 387 ensures SCV Water will continue to operate efficiently and provide excellent service to its ratepayers.”
“This measure is a good governance bill that will support our water agency’s important work of ensuring our water quality and safety,” Smith said.