Joshua Basin Water District reckons with reactions from attempted censure and board reorganization
The Joshua Basin Water District met on Wednesday (August 19) to discuss — amongst other things — board changes brought on by actions from their last meeting on August 5. At that meeting, agenda items calling for the formal censure of board President Stacy Doolittle and a reorganization of the board were proposed but ultimately withdrawn by board Vice President Thomas Short.
Public comments at that August 5 meeting called for more transparency on reasons for the censure. Frustrations were also expressed by residents and board members around the order of the meeting’s agenda, which put public comments ahead of the two agenda items that the public wanted to discuss.
There were also accusations of possible Brown Act violations floated by members of the public who were present at the meeting.
Vice President Thomas Short ultimately took responsibility for the agenda items, saying “this was entirely on me, this was my decision. I made bad choices… I bear full responsibility and I’m going to be considering where I’m going from here.”
Short resigned from the board the next day (August 6) through an email to General Manager Sarah Johnson, who at the time was out on approved vacation leave. That leaves a board vacancy on the four-person board, just a few weeks before the November election that Short had previously put his name in for re-election.
You can find a longer report from the August 5th meeting as a podcast at the end of this article.
General Manager Sarah Johnson on excused absence
At Wednesday (8/19)’s meeting, the first order of business was a change to the agenda as the water district’s General Counsel Jeff Hoskinson informed the board that due to an extended absence from General Manager Sarah Johnson, the board can nominate a General Manager Pro-Tem. Hoskinson says that Johnson is out on a temporary approved leave — separate from her vacation — but the district only became aware of the situation on the Monday before the meeting.
Ultimately, the four board members voted to appoint Anne Roman as General Manager Pro-Tem for the entire duration of the General Manager’s leave.
In public comments, many residents still pushed for transparency and answers regarding what happened on August 5th, prompting a discussion about public availability of the meeting minutes and transcripts of public comments presented at each meeting.
General Counsel Hoskinson provided some clarity around exactly what the district is required to do regarding minutes, telling the board “there’s nothing in the administrative code or law that requires the minutes to reproduce, transcribe, or even summarize public comments. And actually the Brown Act only guarantees an opportunity for people to comment, it doesn’t guarantee a right for those comments to be entered into the minutes.”
Hoskinson suggested a future meeting agenda item that codified exactly what type of transcriptions and public comment summaries the board would like included in the minutes. The previous meeting’s minutes were approved, with an addition to Director Doolittle’s comments from the August 5 meeting praising VP Short’s withdrawal of his two agenda items.
Resident speak up on Lovemore Ranch
Residents were also in attendance to speak on Lovemore Ranch, a development proposed and approved for a single-family residential lot in Joshua Tree. Developer Axel Cramer and the County of San Bernardino was sued by the Joshua Tree Village Neighbors (JTVN), saying the county had failed to describe how the project would handle stormwater runoff and wastewater treatment. The lawsuit was successful in pausing the development until the developer and county could complete environmental impact reports and resubmit the proper studies and paperwork.
That was in early June, and on August 4th Lovemore ranch resubmitted their initial study and mitigated negative declaration to San Bernardino County’s Land Use Services department. On August 19, the Joshua Tree Village neighbors issued a call to action asking for the community to submit public comment at that evening’s Joshua Basin Water District meeting.
During public comments, JTVN founder Atlas appealed to the board, asking them to write a letter to the county on the organization’s behalf. “But we really need a strongly worded, clear letter asking for more information so that we can slow this down. I just spent an hour on the phone with the lawyer, this is a mess and it’s gonna take time, a lot more time, another lawsuit. And we need your help, we need support from this community. Unfortunately, they’re not gonna go away and the county is just gonna keep approving things and looking the other way because they want the money. We’re your rate payers, so please represent us.”
The Morongo Basin Conservation Association (MBCA) has shown their support for the Joshua Tree Village Neighbors, and President Stacy Doolittle and Director David Fick both also act as board members on the MBCA.
Board vacancy appointment pushed to September
Regarding the board vacancy at the water district, the board could choose to hold a special election for the vacancy or appoint someone to the role – both options have different timing requirements for public notice. The board chose to consider appointing someone to the role at their September 16 meeting.
In director comments at the end of the nearly three-hour meeting, Director Jarlsberg says that letters addressing the Lovemore development will most likely have to come from individuals on the board, rather than the Water District itself:
“I don’t think we can put it on the agenda for the next board meeting, which is like one day before the deadline for these letters. So something needs to be done before that meeting from individuals because we can’t really make a board decision on it.”
Board vacancies and meeting decorum were not the only things discussed at Wednesday’s meeting, but it was clear it was remaining top-of-mind as President Doolittle revisited the issue during her remarks.
“Given the absence of general manager, Sarah Johnson, I’m going to reserve questions and comments specifically concerning her conduct until she’s back here to respond. But I’m not going to allow August 5th simply to disappear. There was almost zero transparency regarding these two motions to recognize the board or center me. I know the public and we’ve heard this tonight. We’re given any meaningful documents prior to this meeting and I’m still waiting to receive more to this day.
“Not only was there no transparency, there was no accountability either. More people attended that meeting than any other JBWD meeting in known history. The board ultimately voted four to one to withdraw both items. From the public comments we heard then and continue to hear, it is clear the public expects answers. We have a responsibility to provide them. The district did not emerge from August 5th looking good.”
Director Thomas Floen reminded the public that he is available at the Joshua Tree Farmers Market each Saturday at the JBWD’s booth, telling the board and those in attendance “so if you have any kind of questions and stuff like that, or if you wanna vent or inform us or especially me about anything that goes on here, come on over.”
Z107.7 has reached out to members of the Joshua Basin Water District board for more comments and clarification on recent meetings, and will continue to report on this story as we gather individual comments.
You can listen to a longer report on the August 5 meeting here, as an episode of Public Comments with Robert Haydon: