MVCSD to discuss alleged battery claim involving board member at Wednesday’s meeting (1/14)
The Morongo Valley Community Services District (MVCSD) is holding a special session meeting Wednesday night (January 14) to discuss two significant issues regarding two of the CSD’s sitting board members, including accusations of violence against one sitting Board member.
The Board will discuss the claim submitted by Morongo Valley Firefighters Auxiliary vice president and local business owner Christopher Cross on allegations that he was assaulted by the CSD Board Director Johnny Tolbert. The incident in question allegedly occurred during the CSD’s Thanksgiving Food giveaway last November when tempers rose during a heated argument after which Cross told Z107.7 he “snapped his fingers at Tolbert and then Tolbert hit his forearm with an open hand.” Cross reported the incident to deputies and is currently demanding Tolbert resign from the board or he will take further legal action against the MVCSD.
In a revised agenda issued late last night, the CSD says that Board Member Eva Rowles will tender her resignation from the board. Director Rowles won an election to serve on the CSD Board in November of 2024 and her term was not set to expire until the end of 2027. Rowles will be the fourth board member to resign in two years, and she was elected to replace one of three board members who resigned earlier in 2024.
In her resignation letter, Rowles claims that she has been harassed by Cross. Rowles rents office space from Cross and serves on the Firefighters Auxiliary Board with him. In her resignation letter, she says, “In-person confrontations, online targeting, and now threatening texts— form an ongoing pattern of harassment and intimidation directly caused by Christopher Cross’s actions. To safeguard myself and my family from further harassment, I will be filing a civil harassment restraining order against Christopher Cross.”
The CSD’s General Counsel, Steven Kennedy, is also expected to resign at tonight’s meeting. No reason was provided.
The Morongo Valley CSD meets Wednesday night (January 14) at 6:00 p.m. at the Covington Park Community Center in Morongo Valley.
