Mosquito District Told to Decide Its Own Fate

MOORPARK — The five-member Mosquito Abatement District board of trustees should reach a unanimous decision on whether to disband the agency rather than pursue a costly election to determine the fate of the 37-year-old district.

That’s the conclusion of an interim Ventura County Grand Jury report released this week regarding the district, which is in charge of controlling pest insects in Moorpark and surrounding areas.

But the grand jury’s report has no force of law. In its role as a local government watchdog, the grand jury can make recommendations, but its suggestions are nonbinding and often ignored.

The abatement district board of trustees voted 3 to 2 last month to ask the Local Agency Formation Commission if the district could disband and turn its operations over to city and county officials.

The commission is slated to take up the issue in November.

The grand jury said that district officials may need to ask Moorpark voters for permission to disband because the board of trustees has not reached a unanimous decision.

A special election on the issue would cost about $25,000, and it would cost about $4,000 to place it on the ballot during the June primary, according to official estimates.

To avoid such an expense, the grand jury recommended that the board members take another vote and reach a unanimous decision on whether to dissolve.

But the recommendation was quickly dismissed by Bill La Perch, one of the two district trustees who have been adamant against disbanding.

*

“Why not go to the taxpayers in an election?” La Perch asked. “I don’t want to think I’m smarter than the people who have paid for the operation. So I’d say here are your options: Turn it to the city to put in their general fund or keep it in the district as it is.”

Eloise Brown, a former Moorpark councilwoman who serves on district’s board, said the Local Agency Formation Commission will have the final decision on whether to call for an election. Although Brown voted with the majority to disband, she also said it was inappropriate for the grand jury to ask the two dissenting trustees to change their votes.

“I would like to have them change their decision, of course I would, but I don’t think the grand jury’s role is to ask the board of trustees to reconsider something,” Brown said. The district has received considerable heat from the public, the city of Moorpark and the grand jury for amassing $1.4 million in assessments over the years.

The grand jury report states: “The district deserves criticism for its long-standing practice of collecting excess tax revenues in accumulating its large $1.4 million reserve fund.”

The grand jury added that the district had fulfilled its duties in fighting pests and that no evidence of wasteful spending could be found.

Because of the area’s egg farms and horse ranches, as well as the existence of stagnant pools of water in Moorpark and its surroundings, the grand jury recommended the city and county continue the district’s abatement program.

*

The city has already made plans to take control of the agency. It has agreed to hire two of the district’s full-time employees. Councilman Bernardo Perez said Moorpark has shown that it can control insects as well or better than the district has. The only thing for the trustees to do now is to agree unanimously to dissolve, he said.

Originally, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in 1960 ordered the formation of the district to control mosquitoes, flies and other pests that could transmit diseases to residents.

Moorpark had yet to incorporate as a city and chickens at the time outnumbered residents. But as the area shifted from agricultural uses to a bedroom community, critics began to question whether a mosquito abatement district was still necessary.

Brown, for instance, ran for the abatement district board with the goal of disbanding the institution. She said the city could better use the taxpayer dollars.

The board of trustees had argued for months about whether to disband, culminating in the pivotal vote in August. Trustee Bruce Thomas, who had voted against disbanding in the past, switched his position, saying the city could serve the residents more conveniently.