Blog note: this article references a grand jury report.
A businesswoman is the newest board member of the Coachella Valley Cemetery District following a year of shakeups.
Judy Vossler was sworn in at the beginning of Tuesday's monthly meeting at the district's main office in Coachella. She replaced former board member Joe Ceja.
Among other positions, Vossler previously served as senior vice president and interim CEO of the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau. Her interest in serving on the board is based, in part, to having six family members buried at the cemetery.
"I'm glad to be here and I look forward to participating," Vossler said at Tuesday's meeting. "We'll work through the issues one by one."
She tried to join the board last year when it expanded from three members to five members. Vossler told The Desert Sun recent issues surrounding the district "piqued my interest" and was a major factor in her trying to joint he board.
A year ago, a Riverside County grand jury report criticized leadership and alleged potential Brown Act violations at the district, which serves 400 families per year and encompasses 3,444 square-miles in Riverside County.
The report indicated former district General Manager Bret Kestell and two board members “purposely excluded” the board’s third member, Marcos Coronel, from meetings since March 2017. The trio also hired a private investigator to investigate Coronel, an effort that cost $2,000 from the district’s general fund.
The grand jury also recommended that the district improve its transparency and ethics by conducting staff training, building a website to post agendas, have board members attend a mediation session to resolve issues between them and the general manager, improve communication with the Riverside County Board of Supervisors and revisit the district’s housing policy.
In September, Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez appointed Ernesto Rosales and Bruce Underwood to fill the two newly created seats and John Rios to fill a vacancy. Ceja and Coronel remained until Ceja's departure.
During Tuesday's meeting, Coronel said progress was being made among board members.
Rios countered "We're moving forward, but not as quick as we should."
May 14, 2019
Desert Sun
By Colin Atagi
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