February 18, 2022 - Senator Cortese (D-Silicon Valley) has introduced SB 1170 to ensure small school and community college districts, and their financial stability, are less disproportionately impacted by recall petitions that require a comparatively low signature threshold. SB 1170 is sponsored by the Small School Districts Association.

Vacancies that occur on a legislative body, for instance due to a resignation, are often filled through the appointment process whereby the remaining members of the legislative body appoint a replacement to fill the vacancy and serve until the next election; this avoids the cost of holding a special election to fill an open seat.

Standard recalls are governed under California Elections Code Section 11000, while recalls for appointed seats are governed under Education Code Section 5091 which was enacted in 1976.

The table below illustrates how the percentage of voter signatures needed to produce a regular recall for districts of all sizes is at a much higher threshold than what is needed for recalls of appointed board members, and disproportionately so for districts of small sizes.

District Size	Regular Recalls	Recalls for Appointed Seats
< 1000	30%	5%
1000 – 2000	25%	5%
2000 – 10,000	25%	1.5%
10,000 – 50,000	20%	1.5%
50,000 – 100,000	15%	1.5%
100,000 +	10%	1.5%

SB 1170 would narrowly increase the signature threshold needed to generate a recall for appointed seats in school and community college districts to avoid extremely expensive elections for small districts.

SB 1170 would change the percentage of voter signatures needed to trigger a recall for an appointed seat to the follow:

District Size	Regular Recalls	Recalls for Appointed Seats
< 1000	30%	10%
1000 – 2000	25%	10%
2000 – 10,000	25%	10%
10,000 – 50,000	20%	5%
50,000 – 100,000	15%	2.5%
100,000 +	10%	2.5%

For smaller school and community districts, a recall can severely threaten their financial stability, with the cost of holding a special election totaling a significant percentage of their annual budget.

·      In 2021, a petition of only 90 signatures triggered a special election to recall an appointed Board Member of the Cloverdale Unified School District and add almost $100,000 to the district’s deficit[1].

·      In 2019, a special election for the Dublin Unified School District Board was held costing $76,000 after 75 signatures were gathered for an appointment recall[2].

·      In 2017, the Rancho Santa Fe School District held a special election for an appointment recall triggered by a petition from 65 voters and costing the district an estimated $40,000 to $100,000.[3]

“Our small school districts’ financial well-being lay the critical foundation to ensure positive outcomes for our students. Many small school districts can face crushing losses due to the signatures of only a few. SB 1170 is an important, common-sense remedy that will preserve community voice while protecting our schools and the families they serve,” says Senator Cortese.

“Our school districts cannot afford to allow scarce educational resources meant for our kids to be shifted to fund special elections addressing political debates among a very small number of adults. We appreciate Senator Cortese’s leadership on this issue, and his bill to promote election integrity while protecting school funding,” says Tim Taylor, Executive Director of the Small School Districts' Association of California.
Source: Senator Dave Cortese