Board Role
Failed oversight has been a hallmark of the District Board. While Directors have acknowledged financial problems at public meetings, they have been unable or unwilling to correct the present destructive course.
Commensurate with the Board’s role in financial oversight and fiduciary responsibilities, it has failed to ensure adequate funding to provide quality services to its community by imposing sufficient rates and fees to cover costs.
During budget meetings, Directors failed to ask for any plan to address cost inefficiencies, poor workmanship, the potential loss of more customers, and importantly, dwindling cash reserves.
Directors failed to ask questions when told an additional $9.0 million of “net available” cash reserves would be needed during the next three years to cover cost inefficiencies, at which point the District could be insolvent.
Instead, Directors focused their attention on the $4,000 reduction in fees they receive for attending committee meetings. District customers can take comfort that at the insistence of Directors the fees were restored through cost savings from reduced employee training.
The District’s real problem is that it is going broke!
When finally asked, staff told VRSD Directors the District is uncompetitive in part, due to employees receiving two pensions (one from Ventura County and another from the State) combined with a wage structure that is higher than the private sector.
Unwilling or unable to correct the present destructive courses that made the district no longer competitive, Chairperson Friedman closed the budget discussion saying; “The writing is on the wall that we are too expensive to provide the services for the community.”
Rather than acknowledge the District is going broke, the Board of Directors instead opted to kick the can down the road and approved a budget that included delayed pension payments, draining of remaining cash reserves, and hoping against hope that more customers don’t leave.
The FY2021-22 budget was approved with one dissenting vote. A budget that included another ($5.5) million in losses, followed by millions of additional losses every year until the District finally runs out of cash, possibly as soon as 2024.
New leadership is needed.
The process of returning VRSD to financial stability and regaining the public’s trust demands a refreshed board of directors including new appointments with expanded business experience.
The District is failing because the Board has demonstrated it is not competent in its financial oversight responsibilities. It is time for a completely refreshed Board.
Because of these failures, the Ventura County Taxpayers Association calls for the immediate resignation of Chairperson Friedman, Vice-Chairperson Hernandez, Directors Kildee, Jones, and Austin from the VRSD Board of Directors.
