Sacramento grand jury: Country club hasn’t paid to water its grass for decades
Three years after a civil grand jury found a public utility was not charging a country club enough for water, the utility is still doing so, a new report found.
The Rancho Murieta Community Services District has now been giving discounted reclaimed water to irrigate the Rancho Murieta Country Club golf courses for 38 years, a Sacramento County grand jury report released Wednesday found.
The district is a public utility that provides water and sewer services to about 6,000 residents and two golf courses, all located in a rural, gated community about 27 miles east of downtown Sacramento. The district is governed by a five-member board of directors, and each director is elected to staggered four-year terms.
When Sacramento County’s civil grand jury investigated the entity as one of its four annual reports in the 2022-23 fiscal year it found serious financial mismanagement, including the golf course issue, as well as a lack of financial audits.
This year the grand jury, containing new members, again investigated the district. The investigation, which was initiated either by the jury itself or by a citizen complaint, found that several of those issues are still present, according to the report. It also found new issues — the district has not had a permanent leader in over a year, its interim leader was underqualified, and one of its board members has not been recusing himself from a matter that might financially benefit him.
District Interim General Manager Amelia Wilder did not respond to requests for comment on the report. Board members John Merchant, Linda Butler, Tim Maybee and Bill Gere did not respond to requests for comment. Board member Randy Jenco declined to comment.
Under state law, the district is required to submit a written response to the report and its 12 findings and 12 recommendations within 90 days.
Under a country club contract signed in 1988, the district supplies the club with reclaimed water from its sewage plant to irrigate its two golf courses, the report said. The club is supposed to pay back the district for the cost. But it never has, and the district has never asked.
In two years, unless either party opts out, the contract with the club is set to renew for another 20 years.
The report also found a significant potential conflict of interest issue, regarding one of its board members, who owns underdeveloped property in the district.
The only source of fresh water for the area is the Cosumnes River, and in years of drought, there is “substantial risk” of water shortage, the report said. To address that issue, the board has discussed a potential moratorium on water hookups for new construction.
During a board discussion about a moratorium, Jenco, a board member who owns underdeveloped land and may be financially impacted by such a moratorium, did not recuse himself, leading to a potential appearance of a conflict of interest, the report said.
In November, the California Fair Political Practices Commission determined it will not pursue enforcement actions in the matter, the River Valley Times reported. Jenco told the FPPC the property in question already has water service, so a moratorium would not impact him.
“(That instance created) at least the perception of a financial conflict of interest which could lead to mistrust by the residents,” the grand jury report said.
The report also found staff and board members are overdue on state-required ethics and fiscal training sessions, including those that teach about conflict of interest laws, the report said.
“The District’s failure to govern appropriately is not in keeping with the duties and high standards required by their elected office and continues to expose the District to risks of fraud and unforeseen budget gaps that could prove to be costly to the ratepayers,” the report said.
