Board of Directors

The Salton Community Services District Board of Directors have a public business  meeting on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 7pm at the District Office located at 2098 Frontage Road in Salton City. There are also study sessions held on the 1st Tuesday of the month at 7pm. The public is always welcome.

How They Voted click here

Click for the latest agenda

Architectural Committee

The Architectural Committee meets the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month at 3:30p.m. at the District Office located at 2098 Frontage Road in Salton City for the purpose of architectural  review and approval of building projects within the district and to oversee complaints about possible CC&R infractions.     

Community Recreation (CORE)

CORE DISBANDED!

On November 21st, 2006, after CORE had presented the Board of Directors with a 10 page report titled "CORE Park Development Costs by Park Type"  Directors Butler, Palmer, and Rouhe voted CORE out of existence. 

CORE had been in existence for only 7 months but in that time they had presented the Board with dozens of pages of reports and studies concerning the recreational needs of the community.

Maybe now that CORE is gone the Board of Directors can complete the Parks repair list that was developed 3 years ago and of which Directors Palmer and Butler already had 3 years to complete.  CORE was all set up and ready for that task but the 3 Directors said that they could do it themselves.  Only time will tell if there's any proof in that pudding.

The 

"Community Recreational Commission Report on Parks and Recreation”

was presented to the Board of Directors at the September 19th, 2006 monthly Board meeting. Read their recommendations here.

The

"CORE Park Development Costs by Park Type" can be found here

The Crime of the Censury

by Torri Barrett - Editor

Once again the Leaders of the District have squandered away the people’s monies on pie in the sky schemes and redundancy and just plain not giving a damn, daring anyone to call them on it. And when someone does, they are labeled a trouble maker and rumors are then spread about the Whistleblowers’ incompetence.  But now the District leaders have a new problem they can’t chase away, one of their own is blowing the whistle on them and they don’t like it one bit to say the least, so they are playing kill the man with the ball. 

Instead of fixing the problems this Director is finding the others decided to spend even more of your tax dollars on lawyer fees for something as meaningless as a censure which is worth less then the paper it was written on.  And as a side note, when did the Board meet to decide to have the lawyer work on the censure resolution?  It surely wasn’t at a public hearing.  It’s obvious it was a decision that was made by 3 or more Directors outside of a meeting.  This is definitely a Brown Act violation; something the Board has made a habit of doing. 

Rather then clean up their own act and start anew, the Board Members would rather waste the peoples time and money by jumping onboard of a Wacko’s vendetta to discredit, humiliate, and damage the reputation of anyone she dislikes, and this particular nutcase has made it no secret that she loathes Director Barrett.  So as not to get their wringing Director hands dirty, they let this Wacko do the dirty work for them. I am not trying to name names but we all know who the Wacko is and what Directors have gone out of their way to associate themselves with her. 

President Palmers game of “Hide the Wacko” during the election worked; just wave a few signs, hangout with someone new while temporarily disassociating yourself from the Wacko, and plot and scheme like the good corrupt politician you are. I see though that her parasitic friend is still there hag riding on her back and feeding on her imaginary good will for the people of this Community.   The stench is even so strong that it makes it hard to tell if it’s the smell of benevolence that surrounds her, or is just her burning incense in an attempt to cover up her true nature. 

And then there’s Vice President Rouhe who hasn’t even lived within the District for one day of his life, sucking up to this Wacko and her husband as to not become a target to them.  It would have been much more professional for him to have distanced himself from the fray and attended to the business of Dennis Rieger… I mean the District.  Even after being exposed as being an illegitimate Director due to his not being “domiciled” within the District, Director Rouhe still chooses to play lawmaker.  Maybe it’s because Directors Palmer and Butler have made it clear that if he votes their way they’ll ignore the requirements of the election laws and allow him to continue this travesty.  Have you no dignity Sir?    

As for the way Mister Director Butler, in speech, pretends to detest this said Wacko; his actions speak louder then words. He is constantly, in deed, pandering to the whims of this Wacko so as not to become her target like he had been in the past.  It sure didn’t take much for this Wacko to have her new Furby groomed and trained. 

As for the newest addition to this Charade, it is imperative for the sake of the Community that Dr. Medders quickly learns to talk, walk and think for himself.  His vote of censure against Director Barrett at the first full meeting he ever attended as a Director or Citizen, makes it clear that for now he is just Director Butler’s Howdy Doody; just move your lips and Buffalo Bob will do all the talking and thinking for you.  And don’t forget to follow the cues of President Clarabell so as not to mess up the punch line.

What is it going to take to set this District on the straight and narrow?

Bankruptcy?  Grand Jury Indictments?  Criminal Proceedings? The County or the State stepping in and taking over?  Scary thought but it could just happen!

One thing that is clear is that Director Barrett isn’t going away anytime soon.  He has made it clear that he will continue to expose the illegal activity of the District.  At all costs.  His Oath of Office gave no latitude to him or any other Director to decide what laws should be followed depending on ones perceived needs of the Community.  The law is just that…the law, all other matters are secondary.

SCSD to Refund Improper Impact Fee

By Don Holland

It was four months in the making but it’s finally a done deal.  The Salton Community Services District will be paying back over $480,000.00 worth of improperly collected impact fees that were collected in the last 1 ½ years.  Way back in early September as President Pro-Tempore, Director James G. Barrett noticed that there was something wrong with the Fire Department / Street Lighting Developer Impact Fee that the previous Board enacted back in June of 2005.  Through a constant barrage of criticism and obstructionism as well as a lot of political retribution towards him, Director Barrett and this website helped to rally the troops (that would be you the citizens) to put constant pressure on the District to resolve this refund issue.  And so it is done.  

Good job “John Q. Public”, chalk one up for the little guy.  There is power in numbers and the pen is mightier than the sword! 

At the December 19^th, 2006 Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Salton Community Services District the directors emerged from a closed session on pending litigation. The Board President then announced :“We had a closed session at 5pm…3 items, there was no reportable actions on 2 items and the 3^rd item…developer fee for fire department and street lighting we developed a refund system and the refund paperwork will be available after the first of the year.”  

Official Impact Fee Refund Form

List of Addresses that paid the Impact Fees

Sewer User Fee to Double

by J.F. McGuire

 The Facts: 

On April 17^th, 2007 the SCSD Board of Directors, by a 3-1 vote (with Director Barrett voting no) approved Resolution 2007-4-1 which will raise the Sewer User Fee that is charged to all developed properties within Desert Shores and Salton City.  The amount of increase will be $5.00 a month for the 1^st year, plus $3.00 a month the 2^nd year, and another $2.00 a month in the 3rd year.  Further the fees will be automatically adjusted around 5% each year for inflation.  What this means is that the $180.00 Sewer User Fee that is currently charged, and that shows up on the yearly property tax bill, will increase to $240.00 on July 1^st, 2007, and then will jump to around $290.00 on July 1^st, 2008, and be increased to about $330.00 a year on July 1^st, 2009.  This amounts to an increase of 83.333% over 3 years.  Additionally, the 5% inflation increase will continue for years 4 -6 bringing the grand total to around $380.00 a year in year 6. This is well over double of what is currently being charged.

The Process: 

Under California voter approved Proposition 218 there are certain rules that must be followed to increase the Sewer User Fee. Here are the steps in chronological order: 

1. The SCSD Board of Directors is required to pass a resolution justifying and determining the       amount of increase.

2. After passage of the resolution a notice must be mailed to all affected property owners informing them of the proposed increase and of the majority protest provision of Prop 218.  

3. No sooner than 45 days after the mailing of the notices, a public hearing will be held to listen to verbal protests and to determine if a majority of the affected property owners have objected in writing.

4. If the Board of Directors determines that a written majority protest has been achieved then the Sewer User Fee cannot be increased.

5. If no majority protest exists then the resolution is re-affirmed and the fee will be increased.

6.  

The Sewer User Fee:

The Sewer User Fee was originally imposed in 1979 and was increased in 1984, 1992 and again in 2002. The purpose of the fee is to pay for the day to day operational costs of running the sewer disposal and treatment systems in Desert Shores and Salton City.  The fee is not designed to pay for new treatment facilities or the extension of sewer lines, that is what the Sewer Construction Fund was created to do over 50 years ago.

The Situation:

From 1984 through 1992 the Sewer User Fee had been $5.00 a month.   In 2002-2004 it was raised $4.00, $3.00, and $3.00 respectively but these increases went to service the USDA / NAD Bank loan that was taken out when the Desert Shores sewer line needed emergency upgrades because of sea water infiltration.  Then in fiscal year 2005-2006 the Sewer Maintenance Department, which is funded solely from the Sewer User Fee, ran up over a $290,000.00 deficit.  And now that the Field Employees have exercised there legal rights to organize into a Union and negotiate a fair contract, the wages for running the Sewer Maintenance Department will also increase.   Then there is the increased costs of gasoline, and materials.  In short even with this latest fee increase the Sewer Maintenance Department is probably headed towards another budget deficit that will be passed on to future users just like last years budget deficit has already been passed on to the current users.  In fact, at the April 17^th, 2007 board meeting when this latest fee increase was enacted the General Manager did not provide ANY cost projections on what it is actually going to cost to run The Sewer Maintenance Department, he only addressed the wage increase and the “negative impact to Sewer Maintenance budget – Fiscal Year 2006/2007” which will require next years users to pay for the deficit that is being ran up by this years users. 

The Majority Protest: 

Short of some unforeseen event, without a majority protest the Sewer User Fee will be increased.  With a total of 1,917 developed assessed lots in the district it will take 959 written protests submitted before mid-June 2007 to overturn the boards action, something that rarely happens in California.