The current Commission is comprised of five representatives: two City members, two County members, and one public member. Each has one alternate member for the City, County, and public. Each County seat is voted upon and represented by the County Board of Supervisors. Each City seat is appointed by the City Select Committee, chosen from City Council members from any of the seven Cities in the Imperial County. The public member is recruited by the LAFCO.
Staff to the Commission
Imperial LAFCO is an independent agency. While it consists of members from the County Board of Supervisors and members of the City Councils at large, it is truly not an organization under the control of either the County or any of the Cities. The Commission is supported by staff, which includes an Executive Officer, an Accountant, and a Clerk/Analyst. Current staff members are as follows:
To process the various projects that come before the Commission, LAFCO does use the services of independent consultants to achieve accurate and timely processing of projects.
Legal Counsel to the Commission
The LAFCO, having the authority to retain its own independent legal counsel, currently utilizes the contract services of Walker & Driskill.
Roles & Duties
The Legislature charged the Local Agency Formation Commissions with carrying out changes in governmental organization to promote specified legislative policies now codified in the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, as amended. Among the major policy statements are that:
- LAFCO is to encourage orderly growth and development essential to the social, fiscal and economic well-being of the State of California. (Government Code Sec. 56001)
- LAFCO is responsible for encouraging the logical formation and determination of boundaries while discouraging and eliminating "islands". (Government Code Sec. 56668)
- LAFCO must exercise its authority to ensure that affected population receive efficient and quality government services. (Government Code Sec. 56841)
- LAFCO is required to exercise its authority to guide development away from open space and prime agricultural land uses unless said actions would not promote planned, orderly and efficient development. (Government Code Sec. 56377)
Commission Membership Requirements
By State law, the Imperial LAFCO Commissioners are selected from the groups most affected by its decisions, e.g., the public, the Cities and the County. The Imperial LAFCO is currently composed of five members, each of whom serves a four-year term. The expiration date of the term of office for each member is the first Monday in May in the year the members term expires. Members required are as follows:
- Two City Council members appointed by a committee consisting of a Mayor from each of the seven Cities within the Imperial County (known as the City Select Committee).
- Two Imperial County Board of Supervisors appointed by the Imperial County Board of Supervisors.
- One public member appointed by the City and the County members of LAFCO.
In addition, the Commission could allow the seating of two additional members representing the Special Districts. While LAFCO has encouraged the seating of Special Districts, to date, the districts have elected not to serve on the Commission.