San Bernardino, CA — County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt was unanimously selected to serve as the chairman of the San Bernardino County Local Agency Formation Commission, the governing body that oversees the creation of cities and community services districts. In a statement by Mitzelfelt, he said, “I would like to thank the other commission members for their confidence in selecting me to chair this important body. Our county, and the High Desert in particular, face major challenges related to growth and governance in the years to come. The decisions LAFCO makes can shape the future of communities and the quality of public services for generations to come.” On May 19, James Curatalo, Jr. of the Cucamonga Valley Water District was selected as LAFCO’s vice chair; Curatalo had, earlier this year, received support from both the Big Bear City Community Services District and the Big Bear Municipal Water District, just two of the special districts that fall under LAFCO’s jurisdiction. The seven-member commission also includes a representative familiar to the Big Bear Valley, as Bob Colven, a 17-year CSD Board member, was selected to serve as LAFCO’s public member alternate to James Bagley of Twentynine Palms. As an extension of his CSD duties, Big Bear City resident Colven had served eight years on LAFCO. As Colven tells KBHR, “While on CSD as a member of special districts, I served in the special district position on the commission. I was also vice chair and eventually rose to serve as chairman of the LAFCO commission for two years. Now, I will serve the public, and I can already see with the MSR, or municipal service review, having two hospitals in the mountains has come up—and I can see that we need two, if not three, given the winter we just had. But the bottom line for LAFCO is the care for urban sprawl, so we don’t just willy-nilly create communities without infrastructure.” Colven welcomes input on LAFCO matters in what will be a four-year term, and says he will be “always available.” He can be reached at 585-7725.
