Residents claim area is in danger of a power grab

Imperial Valley residents want Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia to help them fight Assembly Bill 854, which if passed would add directors to the IID Board giving Coachella Valley a majority voice.

Tony Gallegos, Brawley American Citizens Club, said, “We’re planning on putting them in the Coachella Valley, putting up about 25 or 30 signs along the Coachella and Indio area to try to get Mr. Garcia to come out with a stand.”

IID officials said the bill is a disguised power grab by Coachella Valley.

Alex Cardenas, IID Director Division 1, said, “This is not about representation. This is about a taking of our precious perfected water rights. And they’re using representation and power to take our water rights that belong to our people.”

Eric Reyes, Brawley resident, said the community is concerned.

“The bill as it stands right now says they will be a majority of six directors out of eleven of the current five that we have,” Reyes said.

Rusty Garcia, Brawley residents, said the state official’s support in the area could be affected.

“People live through emotions. And when people feel that they’re not being presented properly by Eduardo’s office they’ll have a tendency to back away,” Rusty Garcia said.

Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia represents both Imperial and Coachella valleys. He’s currently working with both sides to find a solution. He makes it clear where he stands.

“There are 90,000 people in the Coachella Valley that are serviced by IIID’s power and have a desire to have a seat at the table. The bill proposes to have six seats at the table and I oppose that wholeheartedly,” Garcia said.

You can find a link to a copy of Assembly Bill 854 here:

This is a link to AB-854:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB854