News from Mission Springs Water District

Desert Hot Springs, CA: On June 24, 2020, the Mission Springs Water District (MSWD) Board of Directors voted unanimously to adopt a final map splitting the MSWD service boundary into five (5) divisions. This move transitions MSWD elections from at-large to by-division elections. MSWD migrated to division elections to preempt any possible threat of litigation.

Division elections will be effective starting with the November 2020 elections. Until then, the current MSWD Directors will continue to serve at-large representing the entire service area, which includes Desert Hot Springs, North Palm Springs and unincorporated areas of Riverside County.

Three (3) of the five (5) divisions on the Board are up for election in 2020. Those are Division 2 (Randy Duncan), Division 3 (Russ Martin), and Division 4 (Ivan Sewell). The remaining divisions, Division 1 (Nancy Wright) and Division 5 (Steve Grasha), will be up for election in 2022. Voters will vote for only one candidate from within their own division, also known as a district.

In order to comply with the California Voting Rights Act, many cities, school districts, water districts, and other special districts are switching from at-large elections to by-division elections. In March 2019, the Board of Directors passed a Resolution of Intention to initiate procedure for establishing and implementing election by-division (Resolution 2019-06). Various public hearings were held starting in January 2020 to gather public input where draft maps were subsequently created and shared with two additional public hearings. The process culminated with the adoption of a final map and Ordinance 2020-2.

For more information or to view the final map, please visit: www.mswd.org/districting