The Morongo Valley Community Services District Board of Directors held a special meeting last night in Covington Park’s Mesquite Room.
Since the district’s stretched thin budget has initiated a spending freeze, the Board called this special meeting to set a compromised schedule for Fire Chief James Brakebill. Brakebill has already taken a 50% salary cut since the Board took action to split the Fire Chief and General Manager duties earlier this year to ease the district’s budget and to keep the firefighters on staff. Brakebill told Z1077, “It’s not about the money, it’s about keeping the community and tourists safe and to protect life and property.”
The Board voted 3/2 in favor of the tough decision motioned by President Gorke: for the next 14 weeks, Chief Brakebill’s schedule will be reduced to part-time, from 9am-2pm Monday through Thursday, with flexibility to accommodate meetings or emergencies. Brakebill mentioned he’d have to notify the state that Morongo Valley won’t have a full-time fire chief for the duration.
To further remedy the future of the district’s budget, the Board voted to hold a budget workshop on April 21st at 8 am.
