Riverside County 3rd District Supervisor Chuck Washington nominated a new five-member County Service Area 36 Advisory Council. The names will be submitted to the full Riverside County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 5, for approval and appointment.
The council nominees are Ginger Dagnall, John Metroka Jr., Wendy Read, David Hunt and Kathy Wilson. Verne Lauritzen, Washington’s chief of staff, said approval by the BOS should be pro forma. Lauritzen and Opal Hellweg, Washington’s legislative assistant, met with the incoming council on Thursday, March 17, at the Idyllwild Library to acquaint them with their roles and responsibilities.
The CSA 36 Advisory Council has been inactive for the last several years. But Washington felt the community needed a forum to ask questions and review recreation programs and financials. In the past, the council held public meetings at which recreation managers and Employment Development Agency representatives were tasked to report.
Recreation in Idyllwild is funded in part by parcel tax levies on property owners within the CSA 36 district boundaries. Over the last few years, in the absence of regular council public meetings, some community members have complained they have had no opportunity to review how their tax dollars were being spent, and no chance to review current programs or suggest new ones.
By reconstituting the council, Washington hopes to increase involvement of recreation users with CSA 36 recreation management.
The council has no policy-making role. It acts as the supervisor’s “eyes and ears” regarding recreation and street lights within the CSA district, reporting back to him on questions and/or issues raised in public meetings by attendees.
