Just a few months ago, the Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, warned the Morongo Valley Community Services District that it must get its financial house in order or risk dissolution. At last night’s meeting of the CSD board, directors received an update to LAFCO’s prior warning. Reporter Mike Lipsitz explains…
In response to LAFCO’s April warning, General Manager Donna Munoz set in motion a multi-pronged program aimed at cutting expenses and maximizing revenue. Last night, the board received a draft LAFCO report of a special study on the district. The report, which will be presented at a LAFCO hearing July 8, credits the board and particularly praises General Manager Munoz for prudent financial management and adopting what appears to be a sustainable budget. The findings represent a feather in the cap for Munoz, who announced on Z107.7 two weeks ago that she will challenge James Ramos in next year’s race for third district County Supervisor. In light of Munoz political aspirations, the directors tabled until next month a vote on renewing her contract. Munoz took a voluntary 35 percent salary cut help bring district finances in line. In other business, the CSD formed a special committee aimed at addressing recent vandalism at Covington Park, and attempted to address recent complaints from Director Karen Lowe after the district’s insurer concluded there were no actionable items among the issue she’d raised.
In a story tomorrow, we’ll report on residents’ response to a recent Caltrans request for community input on placement of a proposed traffic signal on the highway in Morongo Valley.
