(a) The general manager of the district shall notify each water purveyor of the district and provide a 60-day period during which the district will accept nominations for appointment of individuals to the board of directors.

(b) (1) An individual nominated for appointment to the board of directors shall demonstrate eligibility and relevant technical expertise and shall be employed by or a representative of the entity that puts forth their nomination.

(2) To be eligible for nomination, a consultant to or contractor of an entity shall have commenced services to that entity at least one year prior to nomination.

(c) (1) The three directors appointed by the water purveyors shall be selected by the water purveyors of the district every four years as follows:

(A) One director shall be selected by all large water purveyors from the nominees of large water purveyors. Each large water purveyor shall have one vote.

(B) One director shall be selected by all cities that are water purveyors of the district from the nominees of cities. Each city shall have one vote.

(C) One director shall be selected by all of the water purveyors of the district from any nominee. The vote of each purveyor shall be weighted to reflect the number of service connections of that water purveyor within the district. If the selection of a director under this subparagraph would result in a violation of paragraph (2), the first eligible candidate receiving the next highest number of votes shall be selected.

(2) The appointment of directors pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not result in any of the following:

(A) The appointment of three directors that are all employed by or representatives of entities that are all large water purveyors.

(B) The appointment of three directors that are all employed by or representatives of entities that are all cities.

(C) The appointment of three directors that are all employed by or representatives of entities that are all small water purveyors.

(3) Each nominee for director who receives the highest number of votes cast for each office described in paragraph (1) is appointed as a director to the board of directors and shall take office in accordance with Section 71512. The general manager shall collect the votes and report the results to the water purveyors. Votes for an appointed director are public records.

(d) Each appointed director shall live or work within the district.

(e) In order to ensure continuity of knowledge, the directors appointed at the first purveyor selection shall classify themselves by lot so that two of them shall hold office until the selection of their successors at the first succeeding purveyor selection and one of them shall hold office until the selection of their successor at the second succeeding purveyor selection.

(f) (1) The term of a director appointed pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) is terminated if the appointed director no longer is employed by or a representative of a large water purveyor.

(2) The term of a director appointed pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) is terminated if the appointed director no longer is employed by or a representative of a city.

(3) The term of a director appointed pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) is terminated if the appointed director no longer is employed by or a representative of a water purveyor.

(g) (1) An appointed director shall not do any of the following:

(A) Hold an elected office.

(B) Hold more than 0.5 percent ownership in a company regulated by the Public Utilities Commission.

(C) Hold more than one consecutive term of office on the board.

(2) An appointed director shall be subject to all applicable conflict-of-interest and ethics provisions and shall recuse themselves from participating in a decision that could have a direct material benefit on the financial interests of the director.

(h) A vacancy in an office of appointed director shall be filled in accordance with the selection process described in subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive.

(i) (1) An appointed director shall be eligible for all of the following:

(A) Reimbursement for travel and conference expenses pursuant to the Central Basin Municipal Water District Administrative Code.

(B) Compensation for up to 10 meetings per month at the per meeting rate provided by the Central Basin Municipal Water District Administrative Code.

(C) Health insurance benefits, if those benefits are not provided by the director’s employer.

(2) An appointed director shall not be eligible to receive communication or car allowances. For purposes of this paragraph, “car allowances” does not include travel expenses incurred as described in paragraph (1).

(3) An appointed director may waive the reimbursement and compensation described in paragraph (1) and may be required to reimburse their employer for any compensation received.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 124, Sec. 3. (AB 591) Effective January 1, 2020.)