Tag Archive for: LAFCO

The VID board of directors elected Marty Miller as its president and Jo MacKenzie as its vice-president for 2026. Photo: Vista Irrigation District

Vista Irrigation District Board Elects Officers For 2026

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The Vista Irrigation District board of directors elected Marty Miller as its president and Jo MacKenzie as its vice-president for 2026 at its annual organizational meeting.

Director Marty Miller will serve as board president. Photo: Vista Irrigation District

Director Marty Miller will serve as board president. Photo: Vista Irrigation District

Miller, who has served on the board of directors since 2008, represents Division 1, which stretches from Gopher Canyon Road to Vale Terrace Drive in Vista. This will be the fourth time Miller has led the board since being elected.

Miller, who owned a general construction company for over 40 years, has served as chair of the district’s water sustainability, fiscal policy, public affairs, and Warner Ranch committees.  He has represented the district on the San Diego County Water Authority (Water Authority) board of directors since 2011.

Miller is also a member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California board of directors, representing the Water Authority, and a member of the Local Agency Formation Commission Special Districts advisory committee.

Director Jo MacKenzie will serve as vice-president. Photo: Vista Irrigation District

Director Jo MacKenzie will serve as vice-president. Photo: Vista Irrigation District

MacKenzie has served on the Board of Directors since December 1992 and represents Division 5, which includes northeast and southeast Vista, north Twin Oaks Valley, and the Bennett area in the city of San Marcos.

MacKenzie has been a member of governing boards and committees of statewide and local organizations for many years. She has been actively involved with the Association of California Water Agencies, the California Special Districts Association and San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission, serving as a representative for special districts.

Currently, MacKenzie leads the California Special Districts Association Finance Corporation board of directors as its president and serves as vice-president of the Special District Leadership Foundation board of directors.

Miller and MacKenzie are joined by directors Frank Nuñez (Division 2), Peter Kuchinsky (Division 3), and Patrick Sanchez (Division 4) to form the district’s board of directors.

Vista Irrigation District is a public agency governed by an elected five-member board.  The district provides water service to more than 132,000 people in the city of Vista, and portions of San Marcos, Escondido, Oceanside, and unincorporated areas of the county of San Diego.

Environment Report: Water Authority Freezes Up Again on Providing Records

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

It’s Beef Week at Voice of San Diego which means our journalists are unpacking some of the biggest battles in the region. I wrote about the recent divorce between two North County water agencies from the San Diego County Water Authority and you can read it here.

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SoCal’s Water Wars Threatened to Tear San Diego Apart

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Two of the San Diego County Water Authority’s smallest customers — avocado and citrus farming communities in North County tired of paying ever-rising water rates to urbanize San Diego — were prepared to leave quietly in search of cheaper water elsewhere.

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Opinion: Water ‘Divorce’ Election is Manifestation of Larger County Problems

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Michael Smolens Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Customers in two North County water districts overwhelmingly voted to leave a regionwide agency for a simple reason: They can get less-expensive water elsewhere.

But the broader dynamics that led to this moment are complex — and are expected to increase costs for years to come for ratepayers remaining with the San Diego County Water Authority, an umbrella organization currently with 24 member agencies.

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MPWMD Prevails in Lawsuit Against LAFCO

/in , /by /Monterey County Weeklyby David Schmalz

In the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s pursuit of buying out California American Water’s system on the Monterey Peninsula, a small but notable victory was meted out Oct. 25 with a ruling from Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wills.

The ruling came out of a lawsuit the district filed against the Local Agency Formation Commission of Monterey County in April 2022, centered around a decision LAFCO’s board made in December 2021 in which the board voted 5-2 to deny granting the district the “latent powers” to be a retail water provider.

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Bill to Require Countywide Vote on Water Districts’ Divorce Passes, but Likely Too Late for San Diego

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Jeff McDonald Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

State lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bill that would require voters across broadwater authorities to allow individual districts to withdraw before they can legally detach from regional agencies.

But the legislation may be too late to prevent two North County water districts from divorcing from the San Diego County Water Authority.

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Opinion: 37,000 County Residents Want to Raise Water Costs for 3.3 Million San Diegans Without a Vote

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diego by Brigette Browning and Carol Kim Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Imagine going to dinner with a large group where everyone orders a full meal and one couple leaves just as the bill arrives. Unfortunately, this “dine and dash” is happening right now in San Diego County. Except it’s not just friends at dinner but rather two water districts attempting to leave us all with a tab of more than $200 million as they form a new partnership in Riverside.

What does this mean for the rest of us? All our water bills will go up as we’re forced to foot the bill.

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State Bill is Just a Little Too Late

/in , /by /Voice of San Diego Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

A bill that would have made it harder for two water districts to break up with the San Diego County Water Authority lost a bit of steam late last week.

What happened: The state Senate Appropriations Committee passed AB 399 to the Senate floor for debate but got rid of a clause that would have allowed the bill to become law more quickly.

The bill would require that voters across the county approve any water district’s desire to leave the Water Authority. And that clause was important to the bill’s supporters because it would have stopped two districts from leaving.

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Supervisors Support County Water Authority Customer Vote for Rainbow, Fallbrook Departure

/in , , /by /NBC 7by City News Service

The San Diego county Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 Tuesday to support state legislation that would require a vote by all customers served by water districts within the County Water Authority before individual districts can leave the authority.

Proposed by Supervisor Joel Anderson in a board letter, the policy follows a July 10 decision from the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission to allow the Rainbow Municipal Water District and Fallbrook Public Utility District to leave the water authority.

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Rainbow and Fallbrook Fight to Leave San Diego County Water Authority Amid Rising Water Rates

/in , , /by /NBC 7by Priya Shridhar Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Nick Serrano, a board member of the San Diego County Water Authority and Deputy Chief of Staff to San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said if Fallbrook and Rainbow detach from the water authority, the rest of the ratepayers in the county could see their bills increase as much as 5% per year.

“I think it’s stunning that there is an argument to not allow people to vote, that people do not deserve a say in this matter and we just disagree with that,” Serrano said. “I think at the very least, we believe that the ratepayers, who will be impacted by this decision, should have the opportunity to vote. It’s not to say that detachment can’t occur, but they have the opportunity to vote.”

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