Public Utilities Code, 1951

The district government is placed in a 12-member board of directors, and the section specifies who appoints each member.

Board members serve staggered four-year terms, and board vacancies must be filled within 60 days by the body that made the original appointment.

The board may set member compensation, but it cannot exceed $500 in any one calendar month. Members may also receive necessary travel and personal expenses if the board authorizes them.

If new territory is annexed and the required directors vote yes, the board may change its membership to represent the new territory.

The board is the district’s legislative body and must determine all district policy, consistent with this part.

The board must choose one of its members as chairperson and another as vice chairperson.

The board of directors is empowered to run the district’s rail system, set fares and budgets, adopt governing rules, and arrange required audits.

The board may create a chief of police position, and the chief must be a sworn peace officer who is appointed by the board and meets POST requirements.

The board must conduct all meetings according to the Ralph M. Brown Act.

A majority of the board is required to make a quorum for business.

A majority of the board members must vote affirmatively to pass board orders, resolutions, or ordinances, unless this act says otherwise.

The board must establish rules for its proceedings and set the place and time of its meetings.

The board must express its acts by motion, resolution, or ordinance.

If a measure is proposed under Section 105115, the Sonoma and Marin county boards of supervisors must call a special election, and the district must reimburse the counties for the incremental election cost on request.

The board must appoint a general manager for the district and may appoint other specified officers and staff as needed by ordinance.

Certain counties and public agencies may assist the district, and the district must reimburse them for those services.

The general manager must carry out the district’s day-to-day administrative and reporting duties and has power to appoint, supervise, suspend, or remove most district officers.

The district may adopt a seal and change it whenever it wants.

The district may sue and be sued in courts and tribunals of competent jurisdiction, unless another law provides otherwise.

Claims for money or damages against the district are governed by Government Code Division 3.6, unless this section or other applicable statutes or regulations provide otherwise.

The district may make contracts, enter into stipulations, employ labor, and do other acts needed to exercise its powers under this part.

District officers and employees must not have a direct or indirect interest in district contracts or the profits from them, if that would conflict with the referenced Government Code rule.

The district may buy insurance for accidents or destruction affecting the rail transit system and for lost revenue.

The district may contract with independent contractors for services.

For design-build contracts, the district is treated as a transit operator under the cited Public Contract Code provision.

The district is treated as a local agency for purposes of the Natural Disaster Assistance Act.

The district is treated as the succeeding agency to the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit Authority for receiving certain funds.

The district may acquire, hold, and enjoy real property needed for its powers, and the board may lease, mortgage, sell, or otherwise dispose of property if it thinks doing so is in the district’s best interests.

The district may use eminent domain to take property needed for its powers, and must pay certain relocation and reconstruction costs for substitute public utility facilities.

The district may acquire and hold property for qualifying transit-oriented joint development projects, but those projects must follow local land use and zoning rules, and the district may not use eminent domain for an acquisition under this section.

If the district receives certain trail-related rights and interests, it must name a single contact for the agency. The district may also work with trail agencies on bicycle and pedestrian pathways, and some pathways are given specific trail names.

The district may provide rail transit service for passengers and incidental baggage, and may also provide freight service by rail.

The district may acquire and operate rail transit facilities and may contract for shuttle services, but in a specified area of Marin County it must place commuter stations only in incorporated areas as of January 1, 2003.

The district may lease or contract for the use of its rail transit facilities to any operator and may allow the operator to make subleases.

The board may contract with any public agency or person to provide rail transit facilities and services for the district, except as otherwise provided in Section 105143.

The district may build, operate, or acquire and operate rail transit works and facilities in specified locations, including on or over state or public highways and certain waters or state land.

The district is exempt from the stated Government Code Article 5 provisions, except as provided in Section 105087.

The district may make agreements with cities, public agencies, or public utilities to share property or rights and to arrange through routes, joint fares, passenger transfers, or pooling.

The district may accept support, make contracts, cooperate with public agencies, and do whatever is necessary to obtain aid for rail transit facilities.

The board must set rail transit rates and charges, and they must be reasonable.

The district must work with the Federal Railroad Administration, and any successor agencies, to support safe, efficient, and compatible passenger and freight rail operations on the Sonoma and Marin rail line.

The district board may submit a retail transactions and use tax measure to voters, and special taxes in this article may also be imposed by qualified voter initiative if the stated requirements are met.

The district must invest surplus treasury money, including sinking-fund money, according to the cited Government Code article.

The district must deposit district money according to the referenced Government Code article.

Questions about employee representation and employee-employer relations in the district are governed by the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, unless this article or Article 2 says otherwise.

If most employees in an appropriate bargaining unit want a labor organization to represent them, and that organization represents a majority, the board and the employees’ accredited representative must bargain in good faith and try to reach a written contract.

If the district and employees’ representatives cannot agree after a reasonable time, the dispute may go to arbitration if both sides agree. The arbitration board’s majority decision is final and binding.

The district may contract for certain services, but it may not contract out bargaining-unit work unless the employees’ accredited representative agrees.

The Legislature states that creating the district may adversely affect certain employees’ collective bargaining rights, wages, benefits, and job opportunities.

When the district decides to start rail service, it must establish at least three collective bargaining units.

The district must give certain eligible employees priority of employment for a limited period after rail service begins, or until the current collective bargaining agreement ends, whichever is later.

The district must recognize and bargain with certain accredited employee representatives tied to the bargaining units in Section 105151.

Transferring employees must keep their earned seniority and cannot lose listed wages and benefits because of the transfer.

The district may bargain jointly with related employee representatives, has a right to appoint at least one representative to a joint retirement board, and must enter a PERS reciprocity agreement for certain employees.

When the district acquires a utility’s existing facilities, certain eligible employees must be placed in comparable district jobs without examination, and their leave, seniority, and vacation credits must be preserved.

When the district acquires certain utility facilities with an operating pension plan, pension plan members and beneficiaries keep their rights and related status, and the acquisition price must account for the utility’s pension obligations.

A retirement system for district employees in a bargaining unit represented by a labor organization must be handled through a collective bargaining agreement between the labor organization and the district.

The board may contract with specified public retirement systems and enroll some or all district employees under them, but employees in a bargaining unit represented by a labor organization may not be included unless a collective bargaining agreement authorizes it.