Two members of the Morongo Valley Community Services District Board of Directors contemplated the fate of the district after a series of resignations left the governing body in a state of limbo.
At an ad hoc meeting of the board’s Community Relations Committee yesterday (June 4), Directors Christina Gorke and Johnnie Tolbert had an informal conversation with a few dozen concerned members of the community. The full Board of Directors has not met since March 15, due to a lack of quorum at their April and May meetings. Since that last meeting, two of the five board directors have resigned.
Directors Gorke and Tolbert spoke candidly about the future of the CSD, saying that if there is not a quorum at the scheduled June 21 meeting, the board could face major consequences from the county and the state, as they are legally required to meet once every three months.
Gorke and Tolbert shared that they have not been in communication with the other remaining director, Michael Emory.
Tolbert described the board as being in a gray area, saying, “There has never been an [elected] government that has defaulted on the three consecutive meetings rule. There is no precedent for what to expect if we do not meet on June 21.”
Director Emory told Z107.7 that he intends to be at the June 21 meeting, and expressed his hope that the “temperature will have gone down,” referring to hostility he has faced at previous meetings.
Director Emory is married to James Whitney, a former director of the Morongo Valley CSD who resigned in May. Whitney was responsible for the cancellation of the May CSD meetings, citing safety concerns as a reason for their absence. Emory and Whitney are the subjects of a recall campaign, and Whitney reported threats of violence he had received and vandalism to the Sheriff’s office.
Gorke and Tolbert explained that board business, specifically submitting a budget to the state of California, and selecting new board members, has been impossible due to the board’s failure to meet, and that the failure to act on board business will bring additional consequences from the County and the State.
A number of possibilities were floated as to how and when new board members may be selected, including an appointment by the County Board of Supervisors or a costly special election.
But Gorke and Tolbert said that their hands were effectively tied until the scheduled June 21 meeting.
